The Four Seasons
by MoWa
Summary: What does a string quartet consists of? A good violinist, the first violin. A bad violinist, the second violin. An ex-violinist, the viola. And someone who hates violinists altogether, the cello. Perfect for Team 7, don't you think? Eventual SasuNaru.
1. Winter

**Title:** The Four Seasons - Pt 1: Winter

**Rating:** PG-13

**Genre:** Humor, romance, music

**Pairing:** Eventual SasuNaru

**Characters:** Lots of Team 7 (Sai included) and more or less everyone else.

**Wordcount:** 5 450 of 29 300

**Summary:** What does a string quartet consists of? A good violinist (first violin), a bad violinist (second violin), an ex-violinist (viola) and someone who hates violinists altogether (cello).

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><p><strong>Unbeta-ed<strong> D: I apologize in advance for all the errors and typos ;-;

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

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><p><strong>AN:** Things MoWa should be doing - work, writing other things. What she actually does - this. At first meant as a fill for the naruto_meme community ('what if Naruto was a violinist?') but it turned into that behemot of a fic. I kept writing it because inspiration was here and I decided to ride the wave instead of letting the fic fall into the cursed realm of 'things I shall finish one day. Perhaps. Not.' That, and I've been pining after fics lately, and I guess it might be the case for other people? I don't know, I most of all that fic isn't that bad and you can enjoy reading it.

Also, I have to confess I'm no musician. If there is anything amiss in what I describe well... It's fiction, people! :D On a more serious tone, don't hesitate to correct me. It would make me go to sleep smarter.

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><p><em><span>The Four Seasons<span>_

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><p><em>[<strong>Viola, n.:<strong> A stringed instrument of the violin family, slightly larger than a violin, tuned a fifth lower, and having a deeper, more sonorous tone._

_In the past, since the viola's role is mostly as accompaniment, that is to say 'secondary', violists (= viola players) used to be chosen among the worst violin players. It's not really the case anymore today but violist are still the target of countless jokes among musicians, having the reputation of being bad, often dumb players.]_

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><p><em>- Winter -<em>

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><p>The premises where the philharmonic orchestra of Konoha was training, not far from the concert hall, were buzzing with activity and noise. The new year had just begun and all the musicians were already back for a new season: training would start back up to fill an intense and demanding program, new units would be formed and newcomers would be introduced.<p>

Sasuke Uchiha, first violin and thus leader of the orchestra, was looking at all that bumming around with a slight sneer. He despised the inability of others to stay calm and composed.

He was watching the contrabassist try to negotiate his instrument through the disorder for the room, wondering with morbid curiosity if the bass would come out of it unscathed, when he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he noticed Kakashi Hatake, the man in charge for the stringed instruments section of the orchestra, beckoning him.

Leaving the messy room without a backwards glance, Sasuke followed his former teacher down the corridor to a smaller, more secluded room, where the man turned back towards him and smiled.

"I thought now would be a great time to introduce you to the other members of your new string quartet," he said, gesturing towards the two other people present in the room whom Sasuke only noticed then. "Sakura Haruno, the second violin."

The young woman, who wore her pink hair gathered at the top of her head, nodded nervously at him, fidgeting with the instrument resting on her lap. Sasuke almost rolled his eyes. Great, another one of those good-for-nothing idiots that trembled like a leaf in his presence, couldn't hold a straight note for more than two seconds and would burst into tears at the first sign of disapproval, even though they should be used to it after all that time.

"Sai Root, the cello."

The pale-skinned man with dark hair and a fake smile stapled to his face tilted his head to the side with a small wave. Sasuke felt his lips tug down at the corner. He'd never liked cellists but that one... That one he was going to hate, he could feel it. He reeked of hypocrisy and had probably wormed his way in by pulling strings, no less. Insipid moron wouldn't ever be able to infuse any kind of emotion in his music, if he even knew how to read his scores correctly.

"And it appears that our violist is late," Kakashi went on, unfazed by the dirty look Sasuke threw at him, beginning to suspect the older man had given him those shitty partners on purpose as a revenge for the the shitty way he'd treated the former ones during the past year.

There might have been an awkward silence if a commotion outside hadn't broken it before it even began.

"-m late late LATE if you could just let me PASS," a voice shouted before a man appeared in the doorway, tripping over his own feet and barely catching himself on the doorjamb. He had messy blond hair, a mismatched shirt and jacket and a viola case slung over his shoulder and held by a strap. "Sorry if I'm-" he began as he straightened up, only to be interrupted almost at once.

"Hey, Naruto, man!" another voice exclaimed. "Wait a sec'!"

The blond man turned his head in direction of the person who'd called him, eyebrows raised. Sasuke recognized Kiba Inuzaka, one of the trumpeters, who reached out a hand and stuck something in the other man's palm.

"Here."

The blond man unfolded his hand, revealing a crumpled banknote of fifty ryō. "Um, thanks?" he said hesitantly. "I don't remember you owing me anything from the welcoming party, y'know."

"Oh, it's no repayment," Inuzaka replied, batting a hand. Then he grinned, revealing his strangely prominent canines as he added: "It's what I pay you so that you don't play at all today. I kinda value and, you know, _need_ my ears."

The blond man let his breath out in an indignant huff and tilted his head to the side. "You see that one, Kiba?" he asked, flipping him the bird. "Be happy it's the only thing coming at you. For now."

Then he stepped through the door and slammed it shut in the brass player's face.

"And Naruto Uzumaki," Kakashi announced in the renewed, somewhat astounded silence that followed. "The viola."

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><p>"I'm really sorry for being late," Naruto said once more.<p>

They were sitting in a semicircle now, with Kakashi standing with his back against the wall and his arms crossed, obviously enjoying how awkward this all was. Sasuke was glaring, the second violin was becoming daring and was now and then glancing in his direction, the cello still hadn't shed his empty smile and God, the viola just _had_ to be the reason why prejudices against violas existed in the first place. Loud, clumsy, far from intellectually bright (physically it was another matter altogether)...

Sasuke wouldn't be surprised if he didn't even know how to hold his bow correctly.

"Don't worry," the cellist said, speaking for the first time. "I've heard that violists are often quite slow."

Well, at least the man was kind of entertaining in an I-know-how-to-put-my-foot-right-in-it kind of way, Sasuke thought. The blond violist pressed his lips together, his gaze turning murderous as he spat:

"Curious, I always heard that about _cellists,_ but not in the same way. Although that piece of information might've gotten lost on the way to your brain."

"Now now, children," Kakashi mildly intervened from where he was slouching. "Play nice with each other."

The second violin chose that moment to take the leap. She cleared her throat and said: "Um, maybe we could begin?" Sasuke glanced at her with an eyebrow raised in interrogation. "Try a piece to see how we work together?" she went on, her voice curiously becoming stronger.

Sasuke had been sure she would quack in fear. He looked at her in silence just to see her squirm and gulp, then he turned away and reached for his violin.

"Grieg, G minor," was all he said before he started readying his instrument.

If they didn't know which piece he was referring to, well. At least it was sunny outside: they wouldn't get wet when they got thrown out on their asses.

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><p>Okay, so maybe, <em>maybe<em> the partners Kakashi had selected for that season weren't quite the bunch of worthless idiots they appeared to be.

Naruto was actually the only one being entirely new in the orchestra, transferring from a smaller one. From what was written in their folders, Sakura had already been there for a couple of years and Sai had even been handpicked right from the Academy by a member of the management board. Sasuke just hadn't cared enough to really notice them among the mass of musicians before Kakashi put them together.

And they weren't _too_ bad, he guessed. They never balked at the huge amount of rehearsals their training required, half of it with the whole orchestra and the other half with only their quartet partners. They knew their repertoire too, and could sometimes draw something almost correct from their instruments.

Not that Sasuke would let them think that even for a second. They would've begun to rest on their laurel's, which wouldn't happen on his watch, not with the demanding string quartet program the management board had found funny to dump on their shoulders that year. That, and the fact that they could go alone from the beginning to the end of their part without tripping too much didn't mean that the piece sounded right when they played it all together. They all had they faults: the cello was far too bland, the second violin tended to play far too fast and the viola...

"God damn it, moron, what did I just say?" Sasuke snapped, interrupting their music before they even reached the fourth line. Music leaders often had nicknames for their players but rarely used them to their face out of delicacy. Sasuke had no such qualms. If they couldn't bear a little bit of roughing up, then they'd better go look elsewhere. "Why don't you move into horn playing if you want to play loudly that much?"

"Well it's you who insist we play like sissy assed fairies!" the blond violist retorted, never one to back down. "Tell me, do you intend for people in the second row and beyond to be able to hear us or do you think it's an honor reserved for pompous assholes like you sitting up front?"

"We're not here to play a military march," Sasuke spat back. "Not that you'd know the difference."

The viola only rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. Like you're better, with that whining you call music."

"That piece needs to be played with feeling and sensitivity," Sasuke gritted between his teeth, more picked than he would've liked to admit. "We will repeat it as softly and as many times as necessary for that to go through your thick skull before I even _think_ of allowing you to try and play it at the usual volume."

"But if you don't get used to the normal intensity then-" the blond moron began, raising his hands in the air. There he abruptly paused, noticing how dangerous his absurd flailing was for his instrument. He bent down and put his viola back into its case, snapping the box shut before he stood up. "I'm going for a walk," he growled.

No one stopped him. They'd rapidly learned that it was best to let him go and cool off on his own. The pink-haired violinist joined him sometimes but today she stayed behind, tuning her violin and pointedly ignoring Sasuke while she was at it.

She had a sturdy character on her, that one, without looking like it. And Sasuke didn't want to know what the cellist was doing apart from sitting there and smiling ever so blandly.

On his way out the viola passed Kakashi who was just entering the room. The man only smiled.

"Well," he said. "I'm happy to see you get along so well."

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><p>Fortunately the first series of musical events held by the opera house involved no quartets but the whole orchestra, which was a good thing since their group was far from being ready, in Sasuke's opinion. At least with the whole orchestra playing their errors could melt into the crowd, so to speak, and escape notice.<p>

As the leader of the orchestra Sasuke got his fair share of applause along with their conductor, a busty blond woman who steered the whole orchestra with an iron fist. She was probably the only one to know how much he'd worked to make his solo piece sound so pliable and melodious.

Sasuke liked to make his playing look effortless, even if he'd learned early on that it was no small feat.

At the end of the last concert of the first series of events his fingertips were aching and he was ready to collapse on his feet. He would have given anything to go right back to his flat and bury himself under his cover but of course life couldn't be that merciful, could it? Tradition was tradition after all and he had to suffer through the hell that was their post-concert celebration party. It was that or listening to another one of Itachi's lectures about how asocial he was being, about how it wasn't good for him and about how to behave in society.

So he stood in a corner with his champagne flute held close to his chest, glaring at anyone passing nearby, hating his life and waiting for the moment it'd be acceptable for him to leave - or rather for people to be drunk enough not to notice his disappearance.

The party lasted and lasted and lasted. Kakashi had stood with him for a while, making stupid jokes and softly commenting on Sasuke's playing, giving him small hints for further improvement, but now he'd walked off to schmooze with the new treasurer, probably trying to get a raise or something.

People were beginning to stagger around more than walk and Sasuke was beginning to hope the right time was about to come when he heard Kiba Inuzaka ask loudly from the sofa he was sprawled over:

"Say, what's the difference between a violin and a viola anyway?"

His cheeks were red and he'd completely ignored Hinata Hyuuga, the orchestra's harpist, who was discreetly trying to shush him.

"A viola burns longer," Ino Yamanaka, one of the flute players, chirped from the buffet where she was refilling her glass.

Kankuro Sabaku, one of the percussionists, only snorted. "You can actually _tune_ a violin."

"There is no difference," a clear voice cut through the ambient buzz. "Violins only look smaller because the violinists' heads are that much bigger."

There was a short, stunned silence, then Kiba guffawed loudly. "Good one, man," he threw in Naruto's direction just as Sakura, who was sitting beside the blond violist, playfully punched him in the arm. His other companion, Gaara Sabaku, another violist whom Naruto knew from a former orchestra apparently, as well as his brother Kankuro, smirked darkly.

But what unnerved Sasuke was that the blond musician, at whom he'd glanced as soon as the question had been asked to see his reaction, had been looking right at him when he'd spoken, his eyes serious and angry, as if his words hadn't quite been meant as a joke.

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><p>Naruto was late the following morning. Sasuke would've used the time they had to wait to make his barbs especially sharp for the second the blond violist would step in through the door if Kakashi hadn't dropped by to whisper in his ear that he'd actually come in early and then been summoned to the head manager's, Danzō Shimura's, office.<p>

Which wasn't good. At all.

The answer as to why he'd been summoned came the moment Sasukee and Sakura were finishing a duo they'd chosen as a warm-up. A series of loud footsteps echoed down the corridor, accompanied by a litany of 'damn it damn it damn it DAMN _IT_-'

The door was kicked open and in walked Naruto, eyebrows fiercely drawn and lips pulled back into a snarl. He stomped to his chair where his things were resting, snatched his coat and his viola case, all the while spouting a stream of insults interspersed with the head manager's name and gibberish about the orchestra and opera house. He didn't appear to even notice that other people were present in the room as he turned away and he probably would've walked right back out if Sakura hadn't finally caught his attention by shouting his name with unexpected strength.

Naruto ground to a halt and looked at her, chest heaving.

"What's the matter with you?" Sakura asked, her hard tone doing nothing to hide her somewhat worried frown.

"What's the matter with me?" Naruto repeated, voice raising with the second. "What the matter with _me_? _Everything_ is the matter with me apparently! The matter is that I'm considered a loser around here, as if I didn't know it already! The matter is that apparently the only thing that got my worthless ass in was my father's name! The matter is that I should be grateful for that _favor_ and heaven forbid I disparage Shimura's beloved violinists since _they_'re the only actual players around here!"

His head whipped in Sasuke's direction at that, his blue eyes blazing with fury as he spat:

"I bet you're satisfied with yourself now, huh? Finally got me out!" He turned back to Sakura, his lips twisting in a bitter line. "I worked my ass off to get in!" he rasped, the first hint of self-consciousness and hurt vibrating all around him as he spoke. "I worked my ass off to join the Academy, I worked my ass off to end up on top of all my classes, I worked my ass off to arrive where I am today! Yes, I'm my father's son!" he claimed, much to Sasuke's surprise. "So what? He loved music, and I love music too, but I would never use his fame to get me anywhere! Never! So Shimura's fucking favor? He can stuff it! I'm not staying here for a second longer!"

He tightened the grip he had on the strap of his viola case and spun around, intent on slamming the door shut on his way if his outstretched arm was any indication.

Sasuke spoke before he could, calmly asking:

"Where do you think you're going, moron?"

If possible, Naruto's shoulders tensed even further. "Well I would think it was pretty obvious, bastard," he replied, his voice dry with sarcasm.

"My mother and father are happily married, thank you very much," Sasuke retorted without raising his voice. "Now we've already lost almost a whole hour with your antics. Some training before tonight would be nice."

Sakura's eyes were dancing between him and Naruto. The blond musician whirled back around, expression fierce.

"I _told_ you-"

"The only thing I understand," Sasuke firmly interrupted, "is that you got into a tiff with Mr. Shimura. No wonder, the man is an asshole. Did you already see him holding a viola? No, and it's a good thing because you would have died choking on your own breath from too much laughing. I don't care what you say about violinists, you would have to say much worse for it to stop being true. I don't care who your father is, and I don't care what you did to get in here. What matters is that you are in, and what you do now." He paused, then looked around to the other members of the quartet as he added: "Now that these things are clear, shall I suggest we we move on and work on some Dvořák? You still play the end of the last movement so hard it hurts the ear who has to listen to it. And please, Sai, put some energy into it for once, it would help Sakura refrain from rushing through the piece in the hopes it will convey the dynamism you fail to bring."

Smile tugging at the corner of her lips, Sakura was already back on her seat. Naruto was still standing in the doorway, lips parted, staring at Sasuke like he'd sprouted a second head.

Sasuke only raised an impatient eyebrow in his direction.

"Do you intend to play while standing? If not I advise you to hurry, we've already lost enough time as it is," he snapped, leafing through his score to find the beginning of the piece.

Slowly, Naruto walked back to his chair and draped his jacket on the back of it before he put down his case and snapped it open, all along watching Sasuke with wary, puzzled eyes. He didn't protest as he usually did when Sasuke clicked his tongue in impatience.

"Good, now that we're all there... _finally_... On the count of three. One, two-"

Music streamed through the room and out the opened door, swift and harmonious. Under the sound of the first scales, no one heard the rustle of fabric and the shuffling of feet right beside the door in the corridor where Kakashi had been leaning against the wall, wondering if he should intervene. Putting his hands in his pockets he closed his eyes for a second, letting the notes wash over him. Then he turned around and walked away, smiling softly to himself.

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><p>Another evening, another concert. Their quartet's first solo performance was coming up and Sasuke was beginning to feel like training with the whole orchestra was nothing but an annoying setback preventing their quartet from getting that inch closer to what sounded exactly right.<p>

It didn't help matter when some jerk decided tonight was the time to come and spew his bile in public.

"I really don't understand why the first violin gets his own set of applause even when there isn't a single solo during the concert," Neji Hyuuga said to his small group of admirers during the small reception that followed the charity concert the orchestra had just played. He spoke just loud enough to be sure everyone nearby could hear him, including Sasuke. "It is an insult to all the other musicians' talent and entirely underserved, don't you think?"

Usually Sasuke knew how to deal with the man. A few well placed words or, more frequently, simply ignoring him was enough, if unsatisfying.

Which was why he was surprised when he heard another voice rise right beside him.

"Oh, shut up, Hyuuga," Naruto said, almost growled. "I don't see you on the leader's seat."

"_I_ don't see you in the orchestra at all, actually," Sakura added from Sasuke's other side before raising her cup in salutation and taking a sip of champagne.

It was widely known that Hyuuga had left his last orchestra with a bang and had started a career solo. Some said it was a good thing because working with an orchestra only undermined his talent. Some didn't share that opinion.

"You know," Sai mused, popping up from nowhere, like usual. "I've read that really interesting critique's piece."

Sasuke smirked when he noticed Neji refrain from starting since Sai had appeared right beside him.

"It explained quite well that your inability to play well with others, apart from being your worst shortcoming, would condemn you to stay on the sidelines of the music world as it currently is. See, the most recent trend is for putting teamwork in the spotlight. Now don't you find that wonderful that-"

Naruto snorted in his glass of champagne and had to turn away from Sai's bland smile and Neji's irate frown. Sakura followed suit, taking Sasuke by the arm and steering him away.

When Sai joined them later, a puzzled frown on his face as he wondered aloud why his interlocutor had left the party so abruptly, Naruto and Sakura dissolved into peels of laughter and Sasuke found himself smirking.

He didn't say anything though, and only offered Sai a cup of champagne.

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><p>Try as he might Sasuke couldn't help but go down into another bout of hacking coughs right in the middle of the piece, disrupting their playing once more.<p>

It was the third time they had to stop.

"This is ridiculous," Naruto said, rolling his eyes as he rested the edge of his viola on his thigh.

Sasuke glared rebelliously at him. Easy to say for someone who could apparently walk around with nothing but a long-sleeved shirt right in the middle of winter and most of all didn't feel like shit right now.

"No really," Naruto went on. "What are you doing here anyway? You should be at the bottom of your bed right now. Since you've got the perfect excuse to skip and all..."

Sasuke's dark glare turned vicious. Because Naruto thought Sasuke enjoyed feeling that way, that he reveled in being up while his whole body ached with yearning towards warm sheets and a comfortable mattress?

Well, guess what? He didn't. He would've given anything to be back home right now - only he couldn't, and that was what he'd repeated to himself during the long, slow torture that had been getting up, taking a shower and pushing food down his sore throat that morning. He couldn't afford to miss practice, not even once. So much remained to be done. They needed the training, every single one of them.

"It's true you're not in the best of state to practice," Sakura agreed cautiously, eyebrows pulled together with faint worry.

"I've read," Sai intervened, repositioning the neck of his cello against his shoulder, "that sleep and rest were the best medicine against any kind of sickness." He paused, frowning as if in puzzlement. "Apples too, I think."

Sasuke almost winced at the prospect of slightly tart pieces of fruit painfully sliding down his throat.

"Our first concert as a quartet is coming up," Sasuke gritted between his teeth, glowering at the music stand in front of him as if it was responsible for everything. "We're far from being ready. We need all the training we can get. I won't allow something as measly as a cold to get in the way of that. We need to be the best."

"Right," Naruto retorted sarcastically. "Because when you're done transmitting your germs we will all be geniuses on top form, no doubt."

The words Sasuke intended to snap back - and which were a sharp reminder of what he thought of the violist's playing - were cut short by another hoarse cough that felt like his throat was being ripped up. It was a surprise he didn't cough up blood, really.

Naruto clicked his tongue, in disapproval or impatience Sasuke didn't know, and stood up abruptly. "We're having a break," he announced. Then, without waiting for Sasuke's approval - which he wouldn't have got - he put his viola away and snatched his jacket and coat before he left the room. His angry, long steps echoed down the corridor.

Sasuke sighed in frustration. "Five minutes," he mumbled at Sai and Sakura who were exchanging a glance. He took it as an opportunity to go to the bathroom where he splashed a little bit of water on his face to try and get rid of that heavy feeling that made his head buzz. Then, hands resting on the edge of the washbasin, he looked up at his reflection.

He didn't only felt like shit, he also looked like it. His eyes were red and tight around the edges. He couldn't relax his eyebrows which were perpetually drawn together, as if they were trying to build a barrier against the headache that was beginning to pound against them. His hair fell limply around his face, tangling with the scarf he'd kept around his throat because the mere idea of taking it off made him shudder.

All in all, he was a pitiful sight and could very well understand their remarks. Had any one of them turned up at work looking like he currently did he would have sent them back with harsh words about how useless they would've been anyway and the order to rest so that they could come back healthy as soon as possible.

But he wasn't any of them. He was their quartet's leader, he was the first violin of the orchestra. He had responsibilities.

It would all be so much easier if he wasn't weak enough, stupid enough to inevitably get sick, every winter, every year.

With another sigh that almost resembled a growl he took a tissue out of his pocket and blew his clogged, already irritated nose. Another thing he hated about having a cold. But what wasn't to hate, really?

When he returned to the room Naruto was back, sitting on his seat and tuning his viola like he hadn't already done it. Sakura was warming her hands around a paper cup, eyes closed, while Sai blew on his own as if to cool it off.

And a steaming cup of lime-flower tea with a touch of honey was resting on the small table closest to Sasuke's seat, patiently waiting for him.

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><p>Sasuke stalked to their back room as soon as he was finished dealing with the pseudo intellectuals who'd asked to have a word with him after the concert because they loved to hear themselves talk and comment the way their string quartet had played its pieces, never forgetting to drop in a criticism or two. As if Sasuke didn't know the first thing about music and wasn't able to hear when something was wrong.<p>

Stopping in front of the door, he shut his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself. It wouldn't do any good to vent the frustration born from a conversation he'd rather have ignored on the other members of the quartet. They already had enough coming as it was.

Once he was sure he was in control of his emotions, he turned the handle and pushed the door open just in time to see Naruto extract a bottle of sparkling rosé from his bag and to hear Sakura whoop.

Looked like he'd arrived right on time.

"What do you _think_ you're doing?" Sasuke snapped, narrowing his eyes.

"Celebrating," Naruto replied readily, fumbling with the Swiss army knife he'd painstakingly taken out of his pocket. "Come on, bastard, the concept shouldn't be that far-fetched even for you."

"And what, pray, is there to celebrate here?" Sasuke went on, firmly closing the door behind himself and crossing his arms.

"I heard it was tradition to celebrate the end of a performance the first time - and the last time," was Sai's mild, useless input.

Sasuke glared at him. "You call what you did a _performance_?"

There was a silence. Naruto looked up at him, caught off guard and frozen in the action of cutting through the foil covering the cork. Out of the corner of his eyes Sasuke saw Sakura roll her eyes.

"There is something called team morale, Sasuke," she said. "You're supposed to up it, not to break it."

"I don't care about your feelings," the first violinist retorted. "And especially not after what you did. God damn it, Sakura," he went on, unable to prevent his voice from rising. "After all those times we rehearsed that third movement and you just had to mess it up anyway, didn't you?" He let his eyes slide to the others as he added. "Naruto, I know I told you to stay in the background because it's what you're_ supposed to do_ but I didn't ask you to fall asleep there while you were at it. If what you did is all you can do then I wonder why we bother with a viola in the first place. And Sai, don't even get me started on you. Did you even tune you cello before you started or were the so-called notes you made it scream the product of some innate ability?"

By now the silence had turned somewhat shocked. Sasuke drew some satisfaction from the renewed paleness of their faces. They looked quite taken aback, as if they hadn't expected his remarks.

Way to kill the buzz, was it?

"I thought there was that moment," Sai murmured after a while, looking at the ceiling as if he was addressing God, "at the end of a concert, some sort of state of grace during which we could relax a bit before criticism started." He looked back down and blinked. "Did I miss ours?"

Naruto put his bottle on the table behind him with a disgusted snort. "You could cut us some slack, you know," he growled.

"No rest for the wicked," Sasuke snidely replied. "Now get that bottle out of my sight." He turned slightly and addressed them all when he added: "I won't allow things to go on that way. So either you pull yourself together and start to make some actual music or you're out of here."

Sakura took an abrupt breath at that. "You can't-" she began.

"I can and I will," Sasuke interrupted her. A pause, then he added in a more measured tone: "If necessary. We're the best, or we aren't anything." He reached up to get his coat from the rack standing beside the door and slipped it on, then went to pick up his violin case. "I advise you to take some sleep. Practice at seven tomorrow morning."

He turned away to leave.

"For we're jolly good fellows," Naruto muttered with a wry smile, rising his empty glass.

Sasuke closed the door behind him with a snap.

* * *

><p><em>TBC<em>


	2. Spring

_**Title:** The Four Seasons - Part 2: Spring_

_**Rating:** PG-13_

_**Genre:** Humor, romance, music_

_**Pairing:** Eventual SasuNaru_

_**Characters:** Lots of Team 7 (Sai included) and more or less everyone else._

_**Wordcount:** 6 450 of 29 300_

_**Summary:** What does a string quartet consist of? A good violinist (first violin), a bad violinist (second violin), an ex-violinist (viola) and someone who hates violinists altogether (cello)._

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><p><em><strong>Unbeta-ed<strong> D: I apologize in advance for all the errors and typos ;-;_

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto._

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><p><em><span>The Four Seasons<span>_

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><p><em>[Viola, n.: A stringed instrument of the violin family, slightly larger than a violin, tuned a fifth lower, and having a deeper, more sonorous tone.<em>

_In the past, since the viola's role is mostly as accompaniment, that is to say 'secondary', violists (= viola players, not to be confused with violinists) used to be chosen among the worst violin players. It's not really the case anymore today but violist are still the target of countless jokes among musicians, having the reputation of being bad, often dumb players.]_

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><p><em>- Spring -<em>

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><p>Sasuke glanced at his watch and swore under his breath as he stalked down the corridor.<p>

He was late for their morning practice. He hated being late. He hated that training with the orchestra was taking up their whole afternoons and that they had to come in at ungodly hours of the morning to fit in their quartet's practice. He hated feeling that tired for said practice. And he hated being half-hungover while he was at it.

God damn Itachi, surprise visits and his last finds in the realm of red wine to the last circle of Hell.

He was so focused on cursing the man that he didn't notice he was already hearing music until he'd almost reached their appointed room. When he did his steps faltered and slowed down, almost stopping entirely.

It sounded like Sakura had already begun. And it sounded like she was in a far better state than Sasuke felt today. She was playing her part from that piece of Debussy without a hitch for once, whereas she usually found it incredibly difficult to play it right.

And yet her music sounded different somehow. If only Sasuke could put his finger on it...

He felt he was just about to find out what exactly was ticking him off when the music broke off abruptly.

"Hear that?" he was surprised to hear _Naruto_ say. "I think it's here you lose the rhythm. You don't draw that minim quite long enough and you carry on with the quavers a little bit too fast because you worry about the upcoming scale already. I know it's a difficult one, but you should trust your abilities more. Enter it slowly, it should be a piece of cake."

The music came back, smooth and flowing under gifted, nimble fingers, before it vanished again. "See? Just like that. Now try it."

Sasuke reached the door just in time to see Naruto give the violin and bow back to Sakura who took them with a smile of thanks. He stood in the doorway, feeling numb, while the blonde musician took out his viola and began to tune it as if nothing had just happened, as if he hadn't just proved he could play the violin beautifully as well.

"You're late," Sai said from the corner where he often scribbled God knew what instead of working on his music. "So I made a chart. If your seven minutes delay count for as many negative points, then Naruto is back under the whole cumulated hour. Sakura and I, on the other hand, even won some bonus points. Now I have a suggestion about a rewarding system-"

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><p>When the orchestra parted that evening, Sasuke found himself taking his time to pack up his things. He knew that Naruto always lost time chatting with other people and was therefore one of the last to leave the place. Not that Sasuke had anything to say to him or-<p>

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Naruto exclaimed, rolling his eyes because he'd obviously noticed the violinist's strange behavior. "Just ask, I know you're dying for it."

Sasuke threw him an irritated glare, never admitting he felt embarrassed at being that obvious. Then he carefully closed his violin case, smoothing his hands over the surface of the box as if to straighten the rigid material.

"I don't understand," he finally conceded. "If you're so good with a violin, why do you remain stuck to a mere viola?"

Not that Naruto's playing on his instrument was bad, far from it actually. But from what Sasuke had heard that morning, brief though it had been, it was only a matter of training before the blond musician could have a seat as first violin within reach.

(Outside from Konoha's orchestra of course. That seat was very much taken.)

Naruto had turned a chair around and sat on it backwards, arms folded on top of the backrest. He gazed at Sasuke for a long time, long enough for the violinist to feel unnerved. When he spoke, it was softly:

"You told me the other day that you didn't care about who my father was. But you actually don't know who it is at all, do you?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, silently racking his brain in search of any known artist wearing the name Uzumaki. He came up blank and prepared a cutting remark in answer, but Naruto went on before he could utter it:

"See, I took up my mother's last name when I entered the Academy. I didn't want to be associated with him from the get go. Although the way I look and play already does it sometimes."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the violist, taking in his bright hair, his blue eyes. He remembered the way he held instruments, with surprising grace and care for someone as clumsy as him, like they were something to be cherished and stroked so that they played as they should and...

And he felt an ominous suspicion spark at the bottom of his stomach.

"When I was a child," Naruto went on with a smile, probably guessing what Sasuke was thinking, "there was that great alliteration in my name. Naruto Namikaze. Sounds great, doesn't it?"

"You're kidding," Sasuke almost snapped.

Naruto laughed softly. "I assure you I'm not."

And Sasuke _knew_ that already. He kicked himself for not having noticed it earlier. Hell, he'd had a four by five feet poster of Namikaze over his headboard from age six onwards. The man had been one of his young mind's idols, right behind his brother and right beside Bach, Prokofiev and Chopin.

Everyone in the music world knew of Namikaze - Minato Namikaze, the violin master who could make even the cheapest instrument sound like a flowing river, like the song of birds, like a choir of angels. Hearing his music would make the most illiterate idiot stop in his tracks and listen with an enraptured attention he'd never known, it would make music lovers falter and stutter with emotion and incomprehension at how such a thing was possible.

But everyone knew of that terrible accident too, the event that had deprived the world of the genius, and the genius of his gift. Namikaze's hands had been broken and had never entirely recovered the dexterity they'd once had.

His ears had never been able to catch a sound again.

Sasuke looked at Naruto now, saw the reflection of his father in him, noticed his small, pained smile and wondered how hard it had been, in the years that had followed the car crash, to keep on living while the whole music world was mourning like the man was dead entirely.

"For a long time, I chose the viola for all the wrong reasons," Naruto began softly. Sasuke sat down, ready to listen. "At first it was almost forced on me, in fact. When I began at the Academy the teachers only saw my father in me, and they expected me to be the same."

He snorted. Sasuke could only imagine how hard it must have been, growing up and beginning to play in such a man's shadow. Hell, he'd suffered from growing in _Itachi_'s shadow and the man was a _food critique_ now, roaming the Five Countries in search of the most unusual dishes and receipts he could find.

"Hell, they would've loved it if I had already been able to play as well as he did in his prime," Naruto went on. "But I wasn't, upon admittance I was only like any other eight-years-old with more passion, more hopes, more dreams than talent. They were _so_ disappointed," he laughed softly, even if you could feel the hurt underneath, the pain of a boy unable to meet expectations he didn't realize were far too high. "I had taken up the violin, of course. And each and every time I made a mistake they kept repeating I didn't deserve the instrument, didn't even deserve my place in school sometimes and threatened to relegate me to the viola ranks. See, they still had their old-fashioned ideas about how you recruited violists."

His smile vanished and he buried his nose in his arms before he went on: "And I let them. I never listened to what my parents said and moved on to the viola because I believed I wasn't good enough, because I was sure I had failed and wouldn't ever do anything right."

There was a silence, then Naruto straightened slightly, just enough to rest his chin on his forearms.

"Not the best way to start with an instrument," he mused, followed with a sarcastic snort. "Then I kept at it out of spite and petty revenge. Because, you see, I got better. I always worked by leaps and bounds. I would train and train and train and wouldn't do any progress. And suddenly I would get it, my fingers would suddenly become nimbler or my body would find the right stance, like they'd known all along and only waited until that precise moment to show it. And the staff of the Academy, oh, they _wanted_ me as a violinist _then_, of course. I refused," he smirked, "which was stupid, I know. But I don't regret it."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, waiting for the rest.

"See, now I'm a violist because I really like it, you know. I love it, actually. It took me a while to get there and to understand, but now I've reached that point and hell if I'm moving." He titled his head to the side, eyes lost in memories. "I got help on the way. Did you know Jiraiya Sennin was a violist before he went off on his search for the craziest percussions and instruments he could find? He's the one who made me listen to what violas were doing for an orchestra. He has those recordings of whole concerts in which they've taken out the violas' part - don't ask me how they did it - and it's _awful_, believe it. It just sounds so... so absurd and empty and unbalanced. You barely notice they're here when they are and yet..." He shrugged. "They support the whole orchestra and violins first and foremost. They're, like, the instruments behind the scenes, they're the one really pulling the strings here."

The shit-eating grin he couldn't repress as he spoke those words was a clear indicator as to how clearly he was aware of the bad pun he'd just made.

"And they don't care if they aren't in the spotlight because they know they're essential anyway."

Sasuke's raised eyebrow took on a sarcastic curve. Naruto saw it and chuckled.

"Okay, I admit, I'd love to have the spotlight and I'm a sucker for any piece composed exclusively for violas, not just arranged for them. Telemann is my God. But still. A viola-" He smiled at that, a small, happy, tender smile. "They're underrated. They're like the misunderstood poet in the orchestra. And yet they have such a rich tone; their timbre is only a tad lower and it's enough for them to sound that much warmer. You just have to know how to handle them. I love the fact that you can do so much with them, that they have all those hidden abilities waiting to be discovered if you're just curious enough."

He sighed and the silence settled. It drew itself out until Naruto threw a malicious glance at Sasuke and joked:

"So don't get you panties in a twist. I don't have my eye on your beloved seat. You're safe." He grinned. "For now."

* * *

><p>The concert was going to start soon and Sasuke was nervous.<p>

He hated being nervous. Not that he never felt anything of the sort before a performance in public, far from it. After all, you needed that small thrill sparked by your own expectations and those of the public to surpass yourself for a couple of hours. But feeling nervous like he currently was...

That nervousness was the wrong side of these feelings: the slight fear that made your heart beat a little bit too fast until you had more risks of losing the rhythm, the additional tension that laced your shoulders until it turned your posture faulty, the slight tremor that made your hand tremble until your bow couldn't hold a straight, pure note anymore.

God, how he _loathed_ that feeling...

And he hated the fact that Itachi was able to cause it just by informing his little brother that he'd exceptionally be in Konoha that evening and would make the most of it by coming to see him play. Knowing that Itachi would be there somewhere in the large hall while Sasuke steered the whole orchestra through tuning, while he led the violins to accompany the opera singers just the right way...

The fact that the orchestra would almost have a secondary role that evening didn't change anything.

Worse, he knew what Itachi's presence meant even before the start of the concert and he couldn't even breathe behind the scenes, fearing that any second-

"Excuse me, sir?"

Just as he knew it would happen, Itachi had just stepped in through a side door, not caring about the flaming red sign claiming it was reserved for the staff. Sasuke hastily retreated back into the corridor he'd been about to leave before his brother could see him. For a second he toyed with the idea of locking himself up in the orchestra's changing rooms, then realized the voice he'd heard was very familiar when it spoke again:

"I'm really sorry but you're not allowed to be here."

Eyes narrowed, back pressed to the wall, Sasuke twisted his neck so that he could throw a glance around the corner and see what was happening. And indeed Naruto was there, standing right beside Itachi, bringing two extremities of Sasuke's life together in a unexpected, dizzying whole.

"I'm looking for Sasuke Uchiha," Itachi replied with that calm voice of his, the one he knew always unnerved the person he was talking to. Chilly bastard.

"He's getting ready and is therefore unavailable," was Naruto's clipped answer, apparently unfazed by Itachi's vocal wiles. "I'll have to ask you to leave."

Itachi wasn't one to back down that easily, of course. "Tell him his brother is here to see him," he said as if Naruto hadn't just explicitly refused.

His calm but authoritative words had the exact opposite effect to the one they were meant to. Naruto, who until then had been nervously scratching at the back of his head, obviously forcing himself to be polite and nice, stilled and crossed his arms. For the first time Sasuke found himself really appreciating the blond musician's single-, strong-headedness.

"I told you it wasn't possible. Try and talk with the reception desk if you wish to see him that much _after the concert_," Naruto stressed between clenched teeth. "For now, leave or-"

"Got a problem, Blondie?" one of the heavy-armed, dark-skinned bodyguards of the opera house asked from behind his sunglasses. He was standing near the heavy curtains hiding the stage from the public but was turned in their direction, ready to intervene at a moment's notice. "A word from you and I make that bloke flee."

Sasuke had never understood why security had such a soft spot for Naruto.

"None at all, B," Naruto replied, his eyes never leaving Itachi. "Our surprise guest was just about to leave, wasn't he?"

Now Itachi wasn't an idiot and knew when to admit he'd lost the battle. He stared coldly at Naruto for a long while, probably waiting for the blond violist to falter and back down - which he didn't - then he narrowed his eyes and turned away.

"I'll come back," he promised, discontent clear in his voice.

"_After_ the concert," Naruto reminded him as Itachi left through the door.

He let out an explosive sigh once said door had closed, followed by a grunt Sasuke interpreted as _'ass'_.

He waited until they were back in the changing rooms and the other musicians were beginning to leave to go find their seat in the orchestra pit before he stopped the blond violist on his way out.

"Thank you for making Itachi leave earlier," he said low enough for his words not to be heard by anyone else. "He can be a bit... overbearing."

And still hadn't understood that Sasuke wasn't an eight-years-old in need of his big brother's good wishes and support before every single one of his concerts anymore.

Naruto only blinked at him, eyebrows raised.

"You know him?" Another blink. "Wait, that was really your brother?" he blurted out, apparently floored. Then he guffawed. "Man, I thought it was another one of those crazy fans trying to get at you or something. They make up the wildest stories, you know."

It was Sasuke's turn to blink. The resemblance between him and Itachi was kind of obvious...

Then he smirked and patted Naruto on the shoulder as he passed him on his way out.

"Don't change, Blondie. Don't ever change."

He heard Naruto protest loudly for the nickname all the way to the pit where Sakura welcomed him with an enthusiastic smile. From the other side of the conductor's rostrum Naruto threw him a grin as he sat down and Sai caught his eyes with a nod.

And he realized he wasn't feeling that nervous anymore.

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><p>"I met the rudest boy imaginable today," Itachi said over a glass dark red wine.<p>

Sasuke turned his own glass in the light to admire the deep color of its content.

"And I think, _I think_, that I saw him among the orchestra players during the concert," Itachi added.

Sasuke brought his glass back towards him and, with a small, slow circular movement of his wrist, he made the liquid swirl slightly so that it could breathe.

"They'll really hire anybody, it seems," Itachi went on in a mutter.

Sasuke brought the glass to his face and breathed in through his nose, closing his eyes. The bouquet was rich, fruity and promised a little bit of sourness in the aftertaste.

"You should do something about it," Itachi suggested. "Aren't you the leader of the orchestra?"

Eyes still closed, Sasuke tilted the glass towards him and took a small sip of wine, letting it spread its taste on his tongue. It had strength but was also slightly tart. Pity.

Fortunately Itachi knew when to let a subject drop, even if it took him a while to relent.

"Also, I found that quiet family restaurant in Wave Country, or rather in the middle of nowhere," he said, his voice taking on a new, vivid tone. "They make the best dango I've ever eaten."

Sasuke smirked in his glass. "I thought you were there to critique a renowned three-star restaurant in the capital."

"Was I?" Itachi's smirk was more discreet and refined than his, but no less efficient. "Well, I didn't. I'm sure our readers will enjoy the humble but cozy establishment I discovered far more after all."

And that, Sasuke supposed, was why Itachi hadn't been fired yet. He almost never did what he was supposed to do, never followed the pattern of assignments that had been drawn for him, but he had some incredible instinct and always found something better than the places he'd allegedly set out for. The only times he set foot in some renowned restaurant everyone expected the guidebook he worked for to rate, it was to leave behind an incendiary article written in polar sentences that had the whole staff crying for their mother.

Sasuke guessed many a restaurant was happy he didn't follow his duty to the letter and feared the day he'd step through its door on a whim.

"Do you think?" Sasuke asked after he'd taken another mouthful of wine and felt it warm up his throat. He put his glass down, crossed his arms and rested them on the table, tilting his head to the side. "Tell me more about it."

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><p>There was a click on the other end of the line, followed by a feminine voice:<p>

"Is that you, Sasuke?"

"Mother," Sasuke replied with a nod, although she couldn't see it. "I wish you a happy Mother's Day. How are you?"

He could hear his mother's smile in her voice when she warmly answered: "Fine. More than fine, now. My darling little boy," she cooed, then she seemed to perk up even more when she added: "Itachi just called too. I think it's three in the morning where he is."

"Really."

Sasuke swore internally. He'd thought that with Itachi being on the other side of the planet it would mean he'd win that one time. No such luck.

Well, he'd try again for their mother's birthday then. And on Father's Day. And...

"But what about you, Sasuke? How are you?"

Sasuke had to pass his cell phone onto his other hand so that he could push open the door to the building the orchestra practiced in. "I'm fine, mother," he replied. "A little bit tired, perhaps."

God damn practices at seven in the morning.

"From what I've heard, you are the only one to impose such a rhythm to yourself."

Sounded like Kakashi had been talking too much once more. Sasuke shrugged. "Things have to be as close to perfection as possible, mother," he said, knowing she would understand.

She'd seen him spend hours and hours on end with his violin from the day he'd started playing the instrument onwards, and had always done everything she could to encourage his passion and help him through his first steps. She'd learned music theory and reading, she'd found breathing exercises that would better his posture, she'd never backed down when it came to new necessary purchases, she'd stood at his side every time he'd had to buy a new violin because he'd outgrown the former one.

He'd loved those times. He'd missed them once he'd started at the Music Academy, he remembered.

"Don't overdo it and tire yourself out," she scolded him gently. "That's all I'm asking."

"Of course," Sasuke whispered.

There was a silence, during which all he heard was the sound of his own footsteps echoing down the corridor and, beyond, the soft streaming of piano notes. Shino Aburame, their blind but incredibly talented pianist, was already at work. He always chose the craziest times to practice, it seemed. But at the same time, he couldn't see the difference between day and night. The fact that it was still dark when he got up would never have any influence on his morale.

"And how are the members of your quartet turning out?" his mother asked, sounding amused. Sasuke remembered how entertaining she'd found his endless ranting at the beginning of the year.

He thought of Naruto's tireless enthusiasm and lame jokes, of Sakura's iron will and no-nonsense mind, of Sai's gift to perpetually be off the mark and of the first feelings shyly peeking out from under his playing. He thought of the pieces they'd played and of the fact that he now liked mornings almost better than afternoons, despite his never having been a morning person.

"They're alright, I guess," he mumbled as he ascended the stairs that would lead him to the right corridor.

His mother chuckled, not fooled for a second by his vague answer. "I see," she chimed, but thankfully let the matter drop. "And tell me, would you happen to already know where the summer camp takes place this year?"

Summer camp was one of the orchestra's traditions. Since there was no way the musicians would be allowed to leave for more than a week because it meant just as much time not training with the rest of the orchestra, the board organized a yearly three-weeks-stay in some far away location or other for all his musicians so that they could have a taste of real holidays without actually dropping practice.

And every single year, Sasuke's parents wanted to know what their destination was so that they could rent a house not far from the place and have the occasion to spend some time with their son. They hadn't much time for that during the year, being both extremely busy and often out of the country, a high-powered two-people cell that could still conquer the world if it wished to. They came to some of his concerts, sure, but never told him beforehand because they knew it made him unnecessarily nervous, and they didn't always have the time to see him afterwards.

"Not yet," Sasuke answered, but he was looking forward to it and made a mental note to call back as soon as the information had come in.

An unexpected burst of laughter had him raise his head and notice he'd reached the room that had gradually become his quartet's lair, not to be entered carelessly. "I've got to go, mother," he said. "Music calls."

She chuckled and wished him a good day. He bid her goodbye and snapped his phone shut, slipping it back into his inside pocket just as he stepped through the door.

Naruto was already there, sprawled on his chair with one hand deep in his pocket and the other holding his own cellphone to his ear, happily chatting away. Sakura was standing at the table in the corner, fiddling with the coffee machine under Sai's curious, attentive gaze.

The device had mysteriously appeared one day and had been welcomed as the quartet's new messiah, the one that would guide them through the early hours of work even in the middle of winter when it looked like day never really broke. The smell of coffee was pungent in the air, and Sasuke found himself craving a cup.

Sakura held one out to him just as he stepped up to her, not even bothering to look in his direction. She kept clicking away, explaining to Sai the different functions the high-tech device was apparently endowed with.

Sasuke took the cup gratefully and came back towards the center of the room. Naruto had just ended his call and was gazing at his cell's dark screen with a soft smile on his lips.

"Your mother?" Sasuke asked as he sat down, adjusting his dark trousers so that they didn't crease and taking a sip of his coffee.

Naruto chuckled. "Of course." He reached up and undid the first top buttons of his shirt. Sasuke had noticed he'd never ended one of their sessions with his suit jacket on, even in the deepest of winter. Now that the weather was becoming distinctly warmer he would come in with said jacket already thrown over his shoulder and his shirt would automatically end up with at least one of its buttons undone and its sleeves rolled up.

Sasuke didn't mind, as long as those infringements on dress code remained confined to practice hours and Naruto remained correctly clothed during their concerts.

"She's with my dad at some thermal spa somewhere in Yu," Naruto added, and Sasuke noticed he'd been staring at the man's toned forearms since the sleeves hadn't even made it to the first minute that time around. "Spending her whole time getting taken care of."

"Then I guess she's alright," Sasuke said, now staring hard into his coffee.

Naruto snorted. "Of course."

Sasuke felt more hesitant when he asked: "And your father...?"

There was a silence. The violinist couldn't help but glance at his partner and notice his now more subdued expression. He wondered if he'd overstepped a boundary but then Naruto answered, very quietly:

"He's doing better. He's able to write again and... and that's a good thing, right?"

He threw a smile at Sasuke that was a little bit wavering, a little bit forced. Sasuke racked his brain for something to say and found nothing.

A loud beep echoed throughout the room. Surprised, Sasuke turned his head just in time to see Sakura slap Sai on the head with a hissed _'No idiot, what did I just say?'_. Apparently, the cellist wasn't faring so well.

When he brought his attention back to Naruto he noticed that his cup of coffee had disappeared from his hands.

"Soon he'll be able to scold and berate me freely again," Naruto said in a lighter voice, raising the coffee cup with a grin in answer to Sasuke's dirty look. "Although only through letters. Which is terrible, really. After all, if spoken words pass away, written words remain."

* * *

><p>"You'll never guess what happened!"<p>

Naruto and Sasuke glanced up from where they were studying a music score, heads bowed close together over the table. Sakura was standing in the doorway, out of breath, hair and clothes disheveled, gripping the doorjamb with both hands as if to keep herself from falling.

Sasuke drew a chair out for her and she stumbled to it, collapsing onto the seat with a relieved sigh. Two pairs of curious eyes and one raised eyebrow were now directed towards her.

"I overheard Ino," she began between gasps, "talking to Sai and saying that she'd heard some janitors talking about a conversation they'd eavesdropped on, in which Kakashi and Gai - you know, the man responsible for the brass section - talked about-"

"The point?" Sasuke interrupted, knowing he'd be very happy not knowing how the orchestra's rumor-mill worked exactly.

Sakura gulped, apparently finding it difficult to recover from running up the stairs in heels. "Danzō's been fired from the board of directors!"

There was a stunned silence.

"How did that happen?" Naruto exclaimed, but before Sakura could answer he jumped up from his seat with a whoop. Sasuke couldn't blame him: he had himself always loathed the sleazy man.

And he might or might not have let several nasty comments drop in the right ears after a certain interview between the man and a blond musician Sasuke was getting to know well.

Being lead violinist in an orchestra _definitely_ had its perks.

"I don't know, but that's not all," Sakura went on, and Naruto was back on his seat in a second, leaning forward like the worst gossiper ever born, with the whole weight of his upper body resting on his hands gripping the front of his seat between his parted legs. "They decided not to do things by halves and to change the composition of the board drastically."

She let a fair amount of seconds pass to make sure the suspense was at its highest then explained, sure of the effect her words were going to have:

"They're calling back the Terrible Three to constitute the head of the board."

By now, Sasuke and Naruto were gaping.

"Tsunade'll keep her place as our conductor, of course, but she'll also have a role in decision making and-"

"The old hag on the decision board?" Naruto exclaimed with a wince, then raised his eyes to the ceiling and heaven beyond as he miserably added: "Get ready for some Wagner, guys."

Sasuke felt a twitch at the corner of his left eye. He _liked_ Wagner. It had... _magnitude_. "Well, at least it'll be better than the contemporary monstrosities your mentor'll try and make us play," he declared, crossing his arms.

"Because the works of some composer of obscure repute from the seventeenth or eighteenth century your former teacher will make a point of imposing to us are so much better," Sakura chirped with a spark of cynical amusement at the bottom of her eyes. It disappeared though and the urgency came back to her face as she looked right at Naruto.

"But there is more: Naruto, they intend to appoint your father as an honorary member!"

All expression left the blond violist's face. He stopped breathing and paled so much that Sasuke feared for a second that he would faint. But then he gasped abruptly and shook his head, but not in denial:

"He doesn't know about this," he whispered, voice faint but steadily rising as he went on: "I _hope_ he doesn't know about this because if he _knew_ and didn't call to _tell me_-"

"You stole my news."

Three heads turned. Sai had appeared in the doorway and was pouting slightly, directing his most heated glare (which was nothing but a light glower on Sasuke's scale) at Sakura.

Sakura unexpectedly stuck her tongue out at him, crossing her legs and interlacing her fingers over her knee. "I did," she confirmed shamelessly, then finished her report with a decisive nod: "They're supposed to start right this September after we're back from summer camp, just in time for the winter season."

"Speaking of summer camp," Sai perked up, grudge already forgotten, his eerie smile slipping back onto his lips as if out of reflex. "Here is the actually most important piece of news."

Naruto's eyes grew as big as saucers.

"You know where it takes place!" he exclaimed, gripping his seat so tight his knuckles turned white. "Where?"

Sai's smile was even showing some teeth now. He was getting better. "Mount Myōboku."

Naruto's expression turned from expectant to crestfallen. "What, no beach?" he complained.

"It was Jiraiya's stipulation for accepting the job offered to him," Sai explained, index finger raised in the air. "Also, it's been extended to four weeks instead of three."

He probably thought it would be some sort of consolation.

"Moron," Sasuke snorted, arms still crossed. "Humidity is the worst thing for wooden instruments. Now what is a viola made out of?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut up, Uchiha," he said, pushing Sasuke at the shoulder. "You're just happy we won't get to see just how skinny you are under that uptight suit of yours."

Piqued, Sasuke glowered at him: "That you'd be an exhibitionist on the other hand doesn't come as a surprise."

He didn't admit to himself that he _was_ feeling relieved... and just that little bit disappointed.

* * *

><p>Thing was, Danzō's dismissal was actually a hard blow for Sai, something they all discovered as soon as they started a piece and the man turned out to be unable to play his part as he normally would.<p>

It was even blander than his worst smile and than what he'd done at the beginning of the year, as if all the work Sasuke had had them do had been no use. Luckily Naruto and Sakura were here to slowly and carefully draw stilted explanations out of him and Sasuke only had to refrain from ostentatiously champing the bit and from chowing the cellist's arms off in frustration and resentment.

It turned out that Danzō had been the one to choose Sai when he was barely more than a teenager and fresh out of the Music Academy. He'd propelled him forward until he'd reached the place of cellist in Konoha's orchestra sooner that should've been possible. Sasuke was feeling petty enough to sullenly think that it was another proof of the former manager's lack of judgement and taste - whereas Naruto and Sakura mused that it almost, _almost_, made him go up in their esteem. Of one millimeter or two. At least.

But they couldn't let things go on that way. Danzō might have been a great help in Sai's career, they all agreed that he had never been what you would call a good man, even less a good manager. Plus it was imperative that the cellist pull himself together and became able to play correctly (in Sasuke's eyes) again as soon as possible.

So they took him out to explain things to him and _'make him see the light'_, as Naruto put it.

Sai did, after the third glass of wine.

It appeared he didn't hold his liquor that well and was very pliant when drunk. It also appeared he took everything you said to him in a serious voice as an absolute truth he'd remember and most of all _believe_ even once he had sobered up.

Naruto had a lot of fun with that one.

* * *

><p>"Ugh, let me die," Naruto groaned as he collapsed onto one of the small couches their changing room was equipped with.<p>

Sasuke glanced at him from where he was standing, talking in low voices with Tsunade to determine what they were going to say to the orchestra in their post-concert review. The series of musical events preceding the beginning of summer always was pretty demanding and exhausting. He was worried for a second that Naruto had overdone it. He tended to get carried away by his own enthusiasm.

But from the way he had to massage his neck, all along wincing and whining, it was clear that at least half of it was just for show.

Sakura came to stand in front of him, face scrunched up in a scowl and a pout.

"Move," she growled, feebly kicking the blond violist in the shin.

Naruto whimpered and barely scooted over by a centimeter or two. Sakura hadn't the patience to wait any longer and fell down onto the seat beside him with a grunt, not caring that they were touching from shoulder to knee.

"Tired," she mumbled, whole sentences now beyond her. "Sore."

"Want a massage?" Naruto asked faintly, not moving an inch.

"No," was Sakura's immediate reply. Eyes narrowed, she went on: "I know you. If you give me one then you're going to want one too and my fingers are _so_ not up for it..."

Sitting on a chair not so far away, Sai looked about ready to fall asleep leaning against his cello case.

Sasuke decided he would put an end to their misery and cleared his throat to attract everyone's attention. Tsunade straightened up and crossed her arms in that intimidating way of hers.

Sasuke made sure they were all looking at him, then began to talk.

* * *

><p>Naruto had recovered a bit when the orchestra finally parted. He waved enthusiastically at several of his colleagues and even chatted lively with some of them.<p>

Sasuke wondered if it was because he'd fallen asleep during half of the review, only listening when stringed instruments were concerned.

He knew he should've been harsher.

He made sure he had all his things and picked up his violin case.

"See you at the station, bastard!" Naruto hollered in his ear. Grinning, he avoided the fist Sasuke swept at him and scampered away to join Gaara Sabaku who was calmly waiting for him at the entrance. For a second the redhead's eyes and Sasuke's met, then the violist turned away to leave.

Sasuke felt himself frown.

He'd never liked the guy anyway.

* * *

><p><em>TBC<em>

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><p><em>I love feedback! :)<em>


	3. Summer

**Title:** The Four Seasons - Part 3: Summer

**Rating:** PG-13

**Genre:** Humor, romance, fluff, music

**Pairing:** Eventual SasuNaru

**Characters:** Lots of Team 7 (Sai included) and more or less everyone else.

**Wordcount:** 8 000 of 29 300

**Summary:** _What does a string quartet consist of? A good violinist (first violin), a bad violinist (second violin), an ex-violinist (viola) and someone who hates violinists altogether (cello)_.

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><p><strong>Unbeta-ed<strong> D: I apologize in advance for all the errors and typos ;-;

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

**A/N:** Okay, so I totally blame **Syrraki** and her fic _Wild Card_ for Sakura's summer outfit. It was, like, stuck in my head. Oh, and we are heading into the territory of sappy passages, beware.

* * *

><p><em>The Four Seasons<em>

* * *

><p><em>[Viola, n.: A stringed instrument of the violin family, slightly larger than a violin, tuned a fifth lower, and having a deeper, more sonorous tone.<em>

_In the past, since the viola's role is mostly as accompaniment, that is to say 'secondary', violists (= viola players, not to be confused with violinists) used to be chosen among the worst violin players. It's not really the case anymore today but violist are still the target of countless jokes among musicians, having the reputation of being bad, often dumb players.]_

* * *

><p><em>- Summer -<em>

* * *

><p>"We have the seventh and eighth carriages all to ourselves," Kakashi said, looking down at the document in his hands. "Second class. I must say I'm disappointed."<p>

Instead of nodding Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him then passed him to step onto the platform their train was stationed at. He glanced at the number of the first carriage by which he walked. Number one. Great, now he had to walk the entire length of the train, no less.

If there was a God of train stations, he was one wicked, sadistic bastard.

(... Probably Itachi in another life.)

Traveling together by train was the first ritual of their summer camp, no matter how long it took to reach the destination of the year. You could choose to drive there by yourself if you wanted to, and if you were willing to get hazed upon arrival as a punishment by the rest of the orchestra. That was what Sasuke had always done, knowing that no one would dare pull a prank on the lead violinist, let alone _him_. And knowing that there was no way they would leave him with the worst bed in the worst located room even if he arrived after everyone.

Being him had its advantages and he'd always made a point to use that fact for all it was worth.

That year though Sasuke had decided... agreed... to break the habit and take the train. His reasons for putting up with his colleagues in a closed-off and somewhat cramped space for an insane amount of hours were purely practical, of course. Fuel prices were outrageous and he didn't want to risk damaging his car on the rocky, dusty mountain roads he'd have had to ride on. Plus Mount Myōboku wasn't exactly on the doorstep and he didn't want to begin the training course being entirely knackered.

The fact that Naruto wouldn't hesitate for a second before he devised some diabolical revenge plan, pulling Sakura and Sai in with him, had absolutely nothing to do with it. Nor had the excited conversations they'd had about what they were going to do during the journey, planning a picnic and a whole lot of stupid games, among other things.

"Sasuke!"

The violinist raised his head when he heard his name called and saw Sakura waving her fingers at him with a smile. Sai was standing beside her, staring at a couple of pigeons cooing overhead on the metallic capital of one of the station's supporting arches.

"Hey," Sakura said once he'd reached them. "Glad you could make it."

Was it him or the shadow of a smirk was tugging at her lips, obviously making fun of him and of his distaste for public transports? Before he could decide she'd spun around, beckoning him with her hand.

"Come on, they added a special compartment where we can put our instruments."

Sasuke followed her while Sai vanished into the seventh carriage. "Where is Naruto?" he asked. "Late as usual?"

Sakura shrugged and threw him an amused glance over her shoulder. "He rushed onto the train with nary a word as soon as I arrived. I'm not even sure he managed to sleep last night, he's so excited."

Great, so apparently they would have to put up with one hyperactive blond violist doped up on caffeine. Why was Sasuke here already? He thought longingly of his black sports sedan going smoothly while he listened to classical music put on low volume.

He also thought of the security of his back seat when he saw the compartment meant for their instruments and already overflowing with cases. He clutched his tightly against his chest. No way he was going to leave his beloved violin to fend off for itself in that jungle.

Too bad Sakura didn't see it that way. With a patience badly hiding her dark promises of pain should he not obey her she showed him an unexpectedly tidy corner where her own violin and what had to be Naruto's viola (you couldn't mistake the bright orange label stuck on the case) were already resting, protected by Sai's bigger cello. Cushions of suspicious color had been slipped in between them and the wall to prevent damaging collisions in case of jolting.

A dark scowl marring his face and showing his discontent, Sasuke finally relented and put his own case down, arranging some cushions so that it didn't bump against the others too much.

Sakura swept him away before he was quite finished because apparently he was blocking the way and preventing other people from bringing in their instruments.

Feeling grumpier by the minute Sasuke followed her into the adjacent carriage. It was noisy and messy and they had to go from on side of it to the other, all the way getting jostled and deafened by meaningless shouts. The only positive thing was that Sasuke noticed Gaara sitting beside his brother Kankuro.

They walked on through the end of the car and the small platform connecting it to the following one. Sasuke put his small suitcase on the rack, then they finally reached the seventh carriage just in time to hear Naruto growl at Kiba, lips pulled back into a snarl:

"Back off, horn man. Those seats are taken."

Both men held each other's gaze for a long time, neither willing to back down. They were so into it that they didn't notice the two newcomers, not even when Sakura discreetly pushed Sasuke until he sat down on one of the window seats in the four-seat square Naruto had kept free for them. She settled beside him and smiled at Sai, who was seated in front of her.

"I don't see any names written on them," Kiba grunted, knowing their staring contest wouldn't get him anywhere but apparently still unwilling to back down.

"Who needs names?" Sakura quipped then, drawing the attention of both competitors. Both blinked, then Naruto guffawed loudly and Kiba gaped. Still laughing, the blond violist sat back down right in front of Sasuke, entirely unconcerned about the glare thrown in his direction.

"Piece of advice, Uzumaki," Kiba gritted between his teeth, hands balled into fists. "Watch your back."

Naruto only grinned wickedly at him. "Bring it on, horn man. I'm not afraid."

Their eyes clashed once more. A beat. Then they both snorted at the exact same time.

"See you later, man," Kiba said good-humoredly, turning away with a wave.

"Later," Naruto quipped, already digging into the plastic bags resting on the folding table standing in the middle of their square.

Sasuke would never, _never_, understand those two.

* * *

><p>The first part of the journey was just as exhausting as Sasuke had foreseen and for one simple reason: sitting in a train made Naruto regress to age eight.<p>

He was fidgety and noisy and in constant need of attention and distraction. It wasn't helped by the amount of sugary snacks and drinks he'd had since they'd left Konoha. Sasuke held Sai and Sakura entirely responsible for that one. It was only because the cellist had also brought four surprisingly well prepared bentos and because the pink-haired violinist had given him a Thermos bottle full of the delicious coffee only she knew how to make that he refrained from reducing them to two piles of ashes by the mere strength of his most heated glower.

But Naruto, who'd brought an insane amount of games ranging from cards to miniature naval battle and scrabble, was pushing his patience to the limit. He kept kicking Sasuke in the shin as soon as the violinist refused to play another round or as soon as he began to give signs that he was spacing out gazing at the landscape or even falling asleep - until he fell asleep himself with his head in his arms like a kid who had exhausted himself.

Sakura had dozed off too by then, head resting on Sasuke's shoulder, a pliant warmth warding off the cold seeping in through the excessive air conditioning. The whole carriage had calmed down now that the excitement of the first hour had left and the first hints of tiredness had settled in.

Sai on the other hand was still wide awake, feet propped up on the edge of his seat, his lead pencil scratching on the sketchbook resting on his thighs. Sasuke had the strangest suspicion about what the man was drawing: he'd noticed one or two discreet glances thrown in his direction when Sai thought he wasn't looking.

Moving as little as possible so as not to disturb Sakura's rest, Sasuke reached out for the book he'd brought with him and rapidly given up on reading. Settling a little more comfortably in his seat, he opened it where he'd left off and let himself be absorbed by the story.

Three and a half short stories later he was brought out of Edgar Allan Poe's gloomy tales by an amused voice asking:

"You kids having fun?"

He glanced up to see Kakashi standing in the aisle, hands in his pockets. Then for the first time he noticed just how silent the whole carriage had fallen. Sakura was now heavily resting against him and Sai had fallen asleep too, pencil in hand and still so curled up on his seat that he shouldn't have been comfortable enough to doze off. Naruto snorted and moved a bit, his foot bumping against Sasuke's under the table. Sasuke nudged back. Naruto didn't react. Still fast asleep, then.

He raised his head back up and looked at Kakashi whose expression was now definitely smug. Oh, he was patting himself on the back for having put their quartet together, wasn't he? Sasuke's gaze turned into a glare. Kakashi's reaction was a grin before he walked away, snickering to himself.

Sasuke glowered after him until the man had left the carriage. Then he took a second to enjoy the calm atmosphere before he went back to his book, not noticing that his own eyelids were getting progressively heavier.

* * *

><p>They all woke up with a start when the train stopped and the whole carriage suddenly burst into a buzz of activity.<p>

* * *

><p>One of the most important and interesting things about summer camp was that everyone got to know the others better, in a way that even daily training didn't allow. It was what enabled them to really be an orchestra, a whole, instead of a simple gathering of individuals who only had the ability to make music in common.<p>

Of course, they didn't spend every single second of every single day together. There were hours reserved for separate training and most of all a lot of free time. But they all slept at the same place, a small resort the opera house had rented for them, got up and ate at the same time, and lived according to the same rhythm.

In the name of interaction between the different sections of the orchestra the organizers had mixed people up when they'd allotted the rooms. Sasuke found himself sharing his with Jūgo Tenbin, the contrabassist, and Suigetsu Hōzuki, the saxophonist, which was fine by him. They weren't in complete awe of him nor did they fear him, but they also left him alone. For the most part.

Naruto considered himself far less lucky: he'd been put with Shikamaru Nara, the bassoon player, and Shino Aburame, the pianist, both of which were entirely too calm for him. Within half an hour the blond violist was climbing up the walls and went to take refuge in Sasuke's room to complain.

"They're so _silent_," he repeated, eyes wide and almost wild, flailing his hands.

Sasuke snorted disdainfully: "Cry me a river, why don't you."

"It brings back bad memories, okay?" Naruto snapped unexpectedly and Sasuke realized that half of his uneasy panic hadn't been just for show.

Now doubt that things had been very very silent for a very very long time when Naruto had been younger, after a certain accident.

Almost feeling a bit sheepish and ill-at-ease Sasuke slid a glance towards the blond violist. Naruto had half turned away, frowning and glaring at the wall in anger or frustration. Sasuke looked back down at the clothes he was holding in his hands. He'd been unpacking when the other musician had stormed in and plopped down on his bed, talking animatedly.

Now an awkward silence had settled. Sasuke hesitated and parted his lips, wondering if he should apologize although he hadn't done anything wrong. Had he?

Just as he felt himself start frowning too he heard a weary sigh behind him. Another glance showed him Naruto rubbing at his face with his hands. When he let them drop his face was still scrunched up, but more sulky than really angry.

"And on top of that, at least _one_ of your roommates is a string instrument player," he mumbled as he leaned back on Sasuke's bed, getting comfortable. "Lucky bastard. Did you ever try to have an actual conversation with a wind player?"

Sasuke didn't stop him, nor did he answer. Naruto snorted.

"Of course not," he went on anyway, now beginning to smirk a little bit too darkly. "But just so you know, it's impossible. They like to save their breath, you see."

"Or to show you just how long they can talk without stopping because their breathing is so well trained," Sasuke retorted in a low voice, thinking of Lee Rock, their tuba player, and his enthusiastic monologues.

Naruto chuckled and the sound made the tension in Sasuke's shoulders unravel at last. He got up and went to put his folded clothes on one of the shelves in the narrow cupboard standing beside his bed. The suits he'd taken with him were already hung up and he had to thank his father for teaching him how to avoid creases.

Glancing back at Naruto he wondered if the man had even bothered to bring one suit with him. For most of the orchestra players one of the perks of the summer camp was that there was no dress code and that you weren't supposed to wear anything specific or dressy in order not to be stopped at the gates by suspicious bodyguards. And Sasuke could see that he'd guessed right when he'd surmised that wearing a suit everyday for practice was some sort of terrible ordeal for Naruto.

The violist was currently wearing a bight orange sleeveless shirt and dark green cargo pants. There was a very simple necklace of black thread around his neck, with nothing but a naked, blue-green gem stone Sasuke couldn't identify as a pendant. But what was even more revealing was the ease with which he held himself: it suddenly made the stiffness that his button-down shirt, tie and jacket provoked in him obvious to the violinist's eyes. Perhaps half of his apparent clumsiness could be related to that simple fact.

"You finished?"

Sasuke blinked. Naruto was now looking at him quizzically and he noticed he'd been staring. He glanced down and saw that indeed, he was.

"Great!" Naruto exclaimed with a smile, abruptly sitting up and stretching. "Let's go take a look around the place."

He left the room and, making sure he had his room keys with him, Sasuke followed.

* * *

><p>Naruto's strange taste in clothes was not the only thing people discovered over the following hours and days. Like most women in the orchestra, Sakura was only too happy to change her blouse and long black skirts for more comfortable garments too. Which, for her, apparently meant especially short ones: when she came down from the room she shared with Hinata Hyūga and Temari Sabaku for dinner the first evening she had already changed and was wearing nothing but a mini-short revealing shapely legs, a black tank top and flip-flops.<p>

Sasuke was sure Kiba's jaw hit the table.

By the time the next day rolled around, and with it a series of hangovers resulting from the first-evening party, half the orchestra looked about ready to propose to her because of the very foul but all the more efficient cure she concocted. Apparently she had a degree in medicine that she'd done in parallel to her music training. Medicine studies didn't teach you any hangover cure, but medical school parties taught you how to drink and how to remedy the consequences.

Fortunately her strong temper made even the most reckless suitors think twice (or thrice) before they even approached her (Sai's creepy smile contrasting with Sasuke's glare did the rest).

It was that kind of small details, these unexpected abilities and stories about each other that they learned during summer camp.

There were strange habits, like the need Suigetsu Hōzuki felt to bathe at least twice a day, like Lee Rock's daily marathon, allegedly meant to _'keep his youthful breath in top form'_, or even like the way Shikamaru Nara spent whole hours lying on the grass to watch the clouds.

There were unexpected facts. For instance, Chōji Akimichi, the drummer, would gladly have kept Shikamaru company if he wasn't dead terrified of lizards, which you could see everywhere as soon as you stepped outside. Temari Sabaku, one of the trombone players and the last member of the Sabaku trio, would never be seen without a fan because she couldn't bear feeling too hot and sweaty. Ino Yamanaka for her part would start insulting people with flower names when she was drunk.

There were incongruous abilities. Karin Hebi, the lead oboe player, could walk kilometers in stiletto heels without batting an eyelash. Kankuro Sabaku did disturbingly accurate impersonations of anyone at any time. Tenten Senbon, one of the hornists, played darts with toothpicks and knew how to draw tarot cards to predict dreadful fate. Sai, who never went anywhere without his sketchbook, could fall asleep on you right in the middle of a sentence.

There were curious interests for nature. Naruto had some sort of suspect passion for frogs. Gaara Sabaku had brought with him his whole collection of miniature cacti. Jūgo Tenbin was a closet ornithologist and soon began to take long walks with Hinata Hyūga, who had an unnervingly sharp eyesight, and Shino Aburame, who walked without a stick and never even stumbled. Sometimes they were accompanied by Kiba Inuzaka, whose eyes would fill with repressed tears every time he saw a stray dog walking on the verge of the road. It would always take nothing short of half an hour to persuade him not to bring it back.

He did took one stray in though, if only because it was a snow-white puppy no one had the heart of ordering him to leave behind. Kiba named him Akamaru without anyone understanding why.

He became the orchestra's mascot.

* * *

><p>Another thing Naruto did was believing that summer camp was the occasion for him to train with anything but his own viola.<p>

A week had gone by already and Sasuke was beginning to feel he'd seen him with everyone in the orchestra except the members of his own quartet. One day he even caught him willingly sitting right beside Shino on the grand piano bench.

Worse was, Naruto was almost playing correctly, if a little bit slowly. A frown of concentration was imprinted on his face and his tongue was peeking out from the corner of his mouth. Sasuke had noticed that childish habit of his, which reappeared sometimes while he was tuning his viola.

Suddenly Shino reached out a hand and slapped it on Naruto's left one, firmly correcting its position and rearranging the violist's fingers on the keys without a word. Naruto squeaked but didn't draw back, only concentrating harder.

Sasuke wondered if now was the time to intervene. They had practice soon.

But then Naruto drew the music to an end. "All right?" he asked, glancing at Shino with a too bright grin.

"Passable," was the blind man's short, clipped answer. His hands found their place back on the keys and he began to play Beethoven's Moonlight sonata without another word.

Naruto's grin became a wry smile as he got up. He didn't look surprised to see Sasuke standing in the doorway of the room when he turned to leave. Instead he jogged towards him to ask in a low voice:

"Time for practice?"

Sasuke nodded sharply and fell into step beside him to walk down the corridor.

"Care to explain your sudden interest in other instruments?" he tried to ask nonchalantly, knowing he wasn't fooling anyone. Naruto made it obvious by playfully bumping him in the shoulder, his grin back on his face.

"Well, what do you think, bastard?" he said. "I'm getting to know them better."

Sasuke raised a sceptic eyebrow in his direction. Naruto's gaze was filled with amusement as he stuck his hands in the pockets of his large pants, as if he knew something Sasuke didn't.

"Do you think I intend to remain a viola player my whole life?" he asked. "Don't get me wrong, I love it, you know I do. But there is so much more." His smile was small, almost secretive when he confessed in a playful whisper: "I want to become a conductor one day. Did you know many of them were former violists? Since we spend a fair amount of time not playing we really have the opportunity to get to know the music and see how an orchestra works. And the old hag agreed to begin to show me the ropes one day if I show her I'm motivated and willing to learn by myself."

Sasuke smirked to himself. So that was why the blond violist didn't try to move on to the violin. His aim was higher.

And, Sasuke thought, he might even reach it one day and not be too bad at it.

"So you see," Naruto added, voice malicious, and Sasuke tilted his head to the side to show he was listening. He didn't know what he expected, but it wasn't what came: "Me being in your quartet and putting up with your shitty character? It's all part of my plan. I need to have you wrapped around my little finger for when the old hag retires. Because if you, the first violin, aren't on my side, then there is no chance for the orchestra to accept me, is there?"

During his small speech he'd stopped looking at Sasuke. Consequently it took him a couple of seconds and steps to notice the violinist had stopped walking and wasn't at his side anymore. He glanced over his shoulder, eyebrows raised in surprise.

Sasuke really felt like punching him in the face.

"Not a chance," he seethed, suddenly so tense and furious that he was almost shaking with it. "So small piece of advice, asshole. Start looking elsewhere."

He saw Naruto's lips part but spun on his heels to stalk away before the imbecile could talk. He left without a backward glance, ignoring the confused voice calling out to him.

Looked like there wouldn't be any quartet practice today in the end.

They were in holidays after all.

* * *

><p>"Someone to see you," Suigetsu said, sticking his head through the glass door opening onto their small balcony. Sasuke had found refuge in one of the lounge chairs under the parasol and hadn't moved since then, not even to go down for lunch.<p>

"Who?" he asked suspiciously, raising narrowed eyes from the music scores he'd been annotating.

"That pink-haired violinist? Don't remember the name, only the legs," Suigetsu replied with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Sasuke glowered at him. "Is she alone?"

"Why, do you expect someone else?" Suigetsu's gaze turned into a leer. "Is there some orgy tonight I'm not aware of?"

"You're disgusting," Sasuke grunted without being able to repress a wince. "Let her in. No misplaced behavior from your part if you value your balls."

"Why?" Suigetsu asked, sharp smile still in place. "You planning on maiming if I try anything?"

It was Sasuke's turn to smirk darkly at the man, knowing it would creep him out. "I don't need to," he informed sweetly. "I trust her own abilities."

Suigetsu grimaced and left in haste. A couple of seconds went by and then Sakura stepped onto the balcony, looking quite put out.

"Look at that," she drawled, looking down her nose at him. "You're alive."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her and she sat down on the other chair without waiting for an invitation.

"Care to tell me what's gotten into you?" she asked. Apparently, Sasuke's disappearance act and most of all lack of explanation had not pleased her.

Not that he knew what to say to her, to be honest. He didn't understand it himself. After all, it wasn't much, when he thought about it.

Which was why he'd spent half the day _not_ thinking about it.

He didn't even know why he'd reacted that way. Naruto had been joking, had to have been joking, Sasuke knew that, but-

But you didn't joke about such things if the idea hadn't ever occurred to you and Sasuke had had enough of people trying to get closer to him - trying to get closer to the promising prodigy, to the young genius, to the best placed player in the orchestra - only to benefit from it. For a second when he'd heard Naruto talk he'd felt unexpectedly stung, he'd felt like he'd just been slapped in the face.

Not that he'd say that to Sakura. Admitting it out loud would make it real and Sasuke didn't want to know why he'd felt the need to snap _(hurt the blond violist right back)_ and to hole himself up in his room all day.

"I was tired and I had a headache," he said. "In the state I was in I wouldn't have been able to make us do anything good."

The last part was true, at least.

Sakura only raised a sceptic eyebrow at him. She probably remembered those times in February (and even once in April) when he'd come in bundled up in a thick scarf and even thicker wool sweater, with his throat sore, his eyes burning and his head pounding. She probably remembered because his being sick made his already short patience even shorter and made him brood over dark thoughts he'd express through scathing criticism directed to the first person who bothered him.

"What?" Sasuke mumbled, feeling a disgruntled pout form on his lips. "It's summer."

Sakura looked pointedly at him to make him understand she wasn't buying that excuse for a second, then rolled her eyes when he kept glaring at her in defiance.

"Fine!" she exclaimed, raising her hands in exasperation. "Go on, wallow in your self-pity or whatever it is that has you playing the prissy princess on top of her ice tower." She abruptly got up, tugging at the bottom of her mini-shorts to make sure it covered something. "But I advise you to be back among us wee mortals tomorrow. We're worried, you _moron_."

She punched him in the shoulder - hard - and left. Sasuke remained sitting for a long time, rubbing at his arm, staring into space with a thoughtful frown on his face.

* * *

><p>Suigetsu, who had jumped up as soon as he'd heard a knock at the door to open it, turned back around with a scowl on his face.<p>

"Well, aren't you successful," he mumbled, then snatched one of his six towels - the only one that was entirely dry - and announced: "I'm going to take a bath."

Honestly, the man was going to dissolve if he went on that way.

From where he was sitting at the table, still poring over his scores, Sasuke felt tempted to snap at him not to let anyone so easily into their room - especially not anyone blond - but at that moment Sai stepped in through the door, holding a plate covered with a towel with both hands like it was some sort of relic.

Sasuke blinked.

"You weren't at dinner," Sai said.

He walked up to the table and put down what he'd brought, right on the sheets Sasuke was studying. He only smiled blandly when the violinist almost screeched and hastily put them aside before anything could happen to them.

"Not eating is bad for your health, so I went to the kitchen and made you something." He took off the towel, revealing fried potatoes, peas and a grilled lamb chop, put a fork and a knife beside the plate and sat down. "Eat."

Sasuke stared at him. Sai kept on smiling ever so blandly and patiently. The violinist realized the other man would remain here and wait until he was sure his quartet leader had eaten everything.

... Good thing they'd discovered Sai could cook.

With a sigh showing his lack of goodwill he took the fork and knife and began to eat, only to stop abruptly when the heavy feeling of being watched overcame him. Glancing up, he saw that Sai's smile had abated and that the cellist was now staring at him intensely, like he was a puzzle he was trying to decipher.

"What?" Sasuke snapped, feeling unnerved.

"Are you ill?" Sai asked in a genuine tone of voice, unfazed by the violinist's aggressiveness. He'd gotten used to it with time after all.

Sasuke frowned at the lamb chop he was cutting through with a little more force than necessary. "What kind of question is that?" he asked entirely rhetorically. "No."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw that Sai had taken his sketchbook out of God knew where and was now opening it. Armed with his pencil he crossed something out with a nod, a focused look on his face. "Okay then, are you sick?"

Sasuke paused in his hunt for fugitive peas. "What did I just say?"

"Being ill and being sick are not the same thing," Sai remarked in a patronizing tone of voice that would've made Kakashi proud. "Being ill may be life endangering. You can be sick without being ill."

"No kidding, Doc," Sasuke retorted sarcastically. Then he frowned. "I'm not sick."

Just because he'd apparently been the only one cursed with colds during the winter didn't mean he had a 'delicate health' and would come down with something in the middle of _summer_.

"Oh." One day Sasuke would discover how Sai managed to utter that unsurprised sound of surprise. Another crossing out. "Did you remain exposed to direct sunlight for a long span of time?"

"... What?"

Sai glanced up at him. "You might have a sunstroke," he explained.

"Do I look like someone who spent even a second in the sun lately?"

"Not really," Sai admitted, tilting his head to the side as he studied Sasuke's face. "But I never tan either."

Sasuke didn't even want to try and begin to understand the cellist's logic.

"I hate sunlight," he spat.

"So you didn't?" was Sai's only reaction. He probably wouldn't have batted an eyelash if Sasuke had confessed he hated kittens except when he had the leisure to kick them.

"No."

"No sunstroke then."

"No sunstroke," Sasuke repeated slowly.

He ate a potato. Sai crossed something out.

"Did you hit your head?"

Sasuke's knife hit the table. Oh, how he would have liked to embed it right into the wood instead... "Why all the questions?" he snarled.

"You might have a concussion," Sai said, raising his index finger in the air. "Illness, sickness, sunstroke and concussion are as many possible explanations for unusual behavior."

Sasuke stared at him, suddenly understanding why cellists had the reputation of being freaky retards.

"An unusual behavior," Sai went on, mistaking his expression for one of confusion, "is when someone acts differently than they normally would. Like you missing out on practice. Or Naruto not eating at dinner, even if they serve noodles."

Sasuke pressed his lips together when he heard the violist's name. So the idiot was feeling bad?

Served him well.

"So, did you hit your head?" Sai asked. He never knew when to drop it.

"No, I didn't hit my head," Sasuke answered suavely while he viciously cut through what was left of a poor lamb chop.

"You might have forgotten it," Sai insisted. "One of the clues pointing towards a concussion is that you don't remember the precise moment the shock happened."

Sasuke threw him a pointed look the cellist miraculously interpreted correctly.

"No concussion then," he concluded, crossing another line out.

There was a silence. Sasuke began to hope it would stretch itself out until he'd finished his plate. No such luck.

"Are you on your period?"

Another silence, this one of different nature.

Sai was still looking at him with an entirely serious expression on his face.

"Sai," Sasuke gritted between his teeth, feeling very patient even if his mind was clogged with the different ways you could maim someone with a table knife. "I'm a man."

Sai blinked. "Oh?" He looked down at his chart, frowned, blinked again. "Oh yeah, I forgot."

_Forgot what?_ Sasuke almost snapped. _That men don't have periods, or that I'm a man?_ He refrained though, suspecting he wouldn't like the answer either way.

Sai's face was slightly scrunched up, a dubious pout on his lips.

"Perhaps Akamaru is in fact rabid and bit you?" he said slowly. He raised his eyes and asked, intent clear on his face. "Do you feel rabid, Sasuke?"

Given the situation Sasuke almost answered _'yes'_. He bit it back though, taking another mouthful he chowed on for a long time to calm down. Then he swallowed it down and answered curtly: "No. I don't."

Sai hesitated for a second, eyes jumping from his sketchbook to Sasuke.

"Then I must confess I'm at a loss," he admitted with a sigh.

Sasuke glanced at him and noticed his frustrated, almost unhappy expression, like he was berating himself for not finding what he thought was a rational explanation for Sasuke's behavior.

Which was, Sasuke realized, the only way he had to deal with his own concern.

"Sai..." he began, but didn't know what to say. So he only sighed, pushing the empty plate away. "Thank you. Your dinner was delicious."

One small sign of (relaxing) change in the infernal rhythm he imposed to them and they freaked out faster than he could blink.

... Idiots.

* * *

><p>"Sasukeee!"<p>

The last note of the complex improvisation he'd been doing to train his fingers' nimbleness slipped and ended on a spectacular, shrill dissonance. Sasuke winced.

He knew he shouldn't have counted on the fact that Naruto would go on his early morning jog or walk as usual. Having recognized his playing the violist had followed the musical trail and was now flying into the room.

Still feeling petty Sasuke discreetly pushed his violin case a little further to the side with his foot. It didn't fail: Naruto rushed right into it and tripped. With a great deal of flailing and twisting around he managed not to fall face first on the floor, though, and ended up sprawled on his back. He sat back up at once, aiming a glare at his quartet leader.

"You've been avoiding me," he said, already scrambling back to his feet. Sasuke barely managed to save his music scores before the blond violist plopped down on the chair right beside his. "Don't deny it, it's obvious."

Sasuke pointedly ignored him, testing the pegs and strings of his instrument and loosening the hair of his bow by turning the small screw at the lower end.

"What I said..." Naruto began slowly, only to add hastily when he saw Sasuke open his case and put his violin and bow in it: "It was a joke."

Sasuke straightened up and turned in his seat to take the sheets he'd put on the table behind him. Naruto stopped him by putting a firm hand on his shoulder, leaning forward so that he was forced to look at him and into his intense, slightly worried eyes. "Sasuke, it was a _joke_," he repeated earnestly. "You _know_ that, right?"

Sasuke turned his head away and reached for his scores, dislodging the other man's hand.

"A shitty joke," Naruto added.

Well, at least they agreed on one point, Sasuke thought, lips tightly pressed together as he sorted through the sheets to put them back in order.

"I won't do it again," Naruto promised.

If he leaned forward any more he'd make his chair topple over. Sasuke gathered his scores in one neat stack by tapping them on the table surface.

"I won't tell jokes ever again?" Naruto asked, now sounding desperate and at a loss of what to say.

Sasuke felt a twitch at the corner of his left eye. He slipped the sheets back into their briefcase. Then he leaned back on his chair and sighed.

"Don't make promises you have no chance of keeping, moron," he grumbled.

He was suddenly feeling very tired.

And of course the idiot chose that moment to be silent and stare at him with an uncertain expression on his face, like he wasn't sure he could hope...

"Don't look at me that way," Sasuke hissed.

It was like he'd pushed some startup button. "What am I supposed to do?" Naruto blurted. "I don't _know_ what I-" He interrupted himself abruptly, choosing another course of action. "I'm _sorry_, okay? You know, you _know_ I'd never-"

Sasuke bristled. "I don't need to hear it, idiot."

"What if I need to say it?" Naruto retorted at once.

"I don't care," Sasuke gritted between his teeth, crossing his arms.

Naruto glared. Sasuke glared back. Naruto pouted. Sasuker kept on glaring.

"Fine!" Naruto exclaimed, giving in first and flailing his hands. "Then that makes us even!"

"Right," Sasuke snapped.

"Right."

Silence settled back down abruptly.

It began turning awkward when Naruto started to shuffle his feet instead of speaking once more. Sasuke put his hands in his pockets, glowering at a corner of the room and refusing to fidget too.

A minute went by. Then two.

"Still on your quest to get acquainted with every single instrument imaginable?" Sasuke finally asked reluctantly, wondering why he was starting the conversation back up whereas he usually prayed for the blond violist to be silent.

Naruto started slightly, as if caught off guard. "Mh?" He blinked, then the question appeared to register. "Oh, oh yeah. Lee let me try his tuba just now," he said, his voice growing stronger as he recovered some of his usual self-confidence. "I thought my lungs were going to explode. Good thing I heard you, it gave me the perfect excuse to tail it out of there."

By then he was grinning again, although with a touch of uncertainty that made Sasuke pause as he looked at him.

"... I don't suppose you'll need to get better acquainted with a violin," he said, slowly.

Naruto glanced in his direction, eyebrows raised in surprise. "Huh, what? No."

His gaze was turning quizzical, almost prodding. Sasuke abruptly went back to glaring at the wall. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Naruto's confused expression as the violist tried to understand. When he thought he did he shrugged with what was obviously meant as an amused smiled.

"Don't worry for your beloved fiddle," he said. "If I've got a question I'll make sure to ask Sakura."

Sasuke tightened his lips and felt his eyes narrow, wishing for a second he could just bore a hole through the wall. Naruto noticed, of course.

"Hey bastard, what is it?" Seeing that Sasuke didn't answer he leaned to the side until their shoulders bumped together. "Did I say something again?"

Sasuke bit back another sigh. He didn't understand his own reactions right now.

"No," he said dismissively. "You shouldn't neglect your own instrument that much. That's all."

"I don't-" Naruto paused abruptly, then his shoulder was back with a vengeance, pressing against Sasuke's as he spoke again in an ominous, but also slightly whiny tone: "Sasukeee. Tell me what's wrong."

The violinist didn't answer, now scowling in earnest. He almost started when Naruto unexpectedly put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey," he whispered.

His hand was warm through Sasuke's thin shirt, calloused by years of playing and sure. Sasuke didn't know why he didn't shrug it off. He wasn't used to being touched, not that way, not even by his father as a sign of pride or support. He should hate it.

"... Go fetch your viola," he said in a low voice, staring down at the floor. With a jutting of his chin he pointed towards his own instrument. "I want to hear how that sounds on something lower than a violin."

Naruto understood at once he was referring to the piece he'd been improvising before he got interrupted. He hesitated for a second, then sighed indulgently. "Be right back," he said as he stood up, patting Sasuke's shoulder.

Sasuke wondered why he didn't feel really relieved that the violist had dropped it that easily.

* * *

><p>When Sakura and Sai arrived for practice half an hour later they found them in the middle of some sort of competition for the greatest nimbleness of fingers and rapidity of playing. Naruto was surprisingly good at following up on any complex series of notes Sasuke got out of his violin, adapting it for his own viola without a hitch.<p>

Sasuke on the other hand had always found it exhilarating to experiment with musical acrobatics. His trusted, well-known violin offered a whole world of endless possibilities within reach of his fingers and Naruto's grin spurred him on into exploring it.

Standing in the doorway, Sakura put her hands on her hips while Sai watched curiously over her shoulder. Getting the message Sasuke brought the music to an end, feeling a smirk tug at his lips when he met her eyes and saw her single raised eyebrow - a tic that she'd picked up from him, he knew, and that made Naruto complain every single time he saw it because, try as he might, he could never manage to raise only one eyebrow at a time.

"Glad to see your bout of moody wallowing in self-pity is over at last," Sakura said, although it had only been a day. "Now could we have some fun too?"

Sasuke's smirk turned wry as he rolled his eyes. Naruto had already jumped up to replace their chairs correctly in a neat semi-circle.

They didn't really rehearsed the piece they were supposed to that day. Instead, claiming that Sasuke owed them and had better shut up about the program since he'd ignored it so superbly the day before, they riffled through the scores he'd brought with him, trying to get their hands on the most complex, challenging pieces they could find.

Just to see how far they could go together.

It was the kind of things Sasuke quite liked about summer camp.

* * *

><p>Now something Sasuke <em>hated<em> about summer camp was that some people apparently thought that they were still in high school and that now was the occasion to be daring and do the naughty while they were far away from their parents' presence and severe gaze.

Which wasn't true in Sasuke's case, since he'd seen his father and mother that very morning for a walk.

"Come _on_," Karin, the lead oboe player, breathed while leaning forward in his direction as if some gravity power had been bestowed upon Sasuke without him being aware of it. "All those times our eyes met when I gave you the tuning..." she purred suggestively. "Surely you've felt _something_. I know you have."

What Sasuke had felt had only ever had to do with his ears and a well-known A that surprisingly _wasn't_ B the Bodyguard's brother.

Karin was batting her eyelashes at him, a small sultry smile curving her lips.

Sasuke stared at her. Then, seeing she wouldn't leave and would probably end up reaching him if she kept on falling slowly forwards like she did, he took a step back.

"Sorry," he said in a deadpan voice. "I'm not into women who spend their days blowing things."

She blinked, caught off-guard by his harsh, insulting dismissal. Sasuke almost smirked and-

She slapped him in the face. Hard.

He hadn't expected that. It took him a second to register the pain. When he turned his head back straight, prodding at his tender cheek with a disgruntled frown, Karin was already stomping away, barking at anyone looking in her direction.

"Our violinist's best contraceptive?" a voice spoke right in his right ear just as a warm arm settled over his shoulders. "His per-so-na-li-ty."

Sasuke snorted, shifting his weight to his right leg. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Naruto rolling his own.

"Why did you send her packing?" the violist asked, still not putting his arm away. "She's kind of hot."

"Naruto, please," Sakura protested. "That girl is a slut." She'd just appeared at Sasuke's other side and threw him a short, threatening glare as she added in a dangerous voice: "Which doesn't mean you didn't deserve what you got."

Naruto only leaned forward so that Sakura could see his leer when he retorted: "A slut? So what? She might know, you know... _things_." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Sasuke's lips pressed tightly together. "Moron," he snapped lowly as he abruptly stepped away from the violist. Ignoring the way Naruto tripped, which was very undignified, he glanced at his watch. "We've got some free time," he remarked. "Someone fetch Sai? I'd like to try that new piece..."

* * *

><p>"I heard that a blond man accompanied you part of the way," Mikoto said. At her son's almost surprised gaze she smiled. "Your father told me."<p>

Sasuke glanced at his father who was currently in deep conversation with Itachi over the menu, setting up a plan for their order. Sasuke and his mother didn't even bother looking at the selection of dishes the restaurant offered. They'd long since understood that when Itachi was present he was the only one to decide what would be eaten by every single one of them. Then he'd start trying to sneak food from their plates on the pretext of doing his job conscientiously by having a taste of everything.

Which was why Sasuke had chosen to strategically sit on the other side of their round table, between their mother and father.

"So, who was it?" Mikoto pressed, distracting Sasuke from listening to Fusao, Itachi's son, haltingly trying to read aloud the name of some dish under the watchful gaze of his father and grandfather. Sasuke turned towards his mother and noticed the amused sparkle in her eyes, which made him wonder why she was so interested in the matter.

"That was Naruto," he replied. "Uzumaki," he added almost at once, realizing how familiar the first name alone had sounded.

Mikoto raised her eyebrows slightly, as if pleasantly surprised. "Your violist?" she asked, her voice getting warmer when she added: "I see."

It was Sasuke's turn to raise an eyebrow, but she only smiled in answer and turned her attention back to the rest of the table, wondering out loud what they were planning for them.

Sasuke felt it would be better if he didn't press the matter either.

* * *

><p><em>TBC<em>

* * *

><p><em>I love feedback :)<em>


	4. Autumn

_**Title:** The Four Seasons - Part 4: Autumn_

_**Rating:** PG-13_

_**Genre:** Humor, romance, fluff, music_

_**Pairing:** Eventual SasuNaru_

_**Characters:** Lots of Team 7 (Sai included) and more or less everyone else._

_**Wordcount:** 5 900 of 29 300_

_**Summary:** What does a string quartet consist of? A good violinist (first violin), a bad violinist (second violin), an ex-violinist (viola) and someone who hates violinists altogether (cello)._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Unbeta-ed<strong> D: I apologize in advance for all the errors and typos ;-;_

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto._

_**A/N:** So this isn't the last part, ha ha :p Because winter doesn't begin in january, actually... And I thank everyone who reviewed! I'm glad you like the fic :)_

* * *

><p><span>The Four Seasons<span>

* * *

><p><em>[Viola, n.: A stringed instrument of the violin family, slightly larger than a violin, tuned a fifth lower, and having a deeper, more sonorous tone.<em>

_In the past, since the viola's role is mostly as accompaniment, that is to say 'secondary', violists (= viola players, not to be confused with violinists) used to be chosen among the worst violin players. It's not really the case anymore today but violist are still the target of countless jokes among musicians, having the reputation of being bad, often dumb players.]_

* * *

><p><em>- Autumn -<em>

* * *

><p>With the end of summer came the traditional start of the so-called winter music season: a series of concerts that showed off what they'd practiced during their time away and took them right past the first days of September at a ruthless pace. It was a way to get back into the swing of things, into the regular rhythm of training alternating with bigger events.<p>

Let's just say, Naruto whined a lot.

September also was special that year because of the reorganization of the management board. Logically all administrative matters had been dealt with during the summer, when the whole opera house had slowed down under a heavy, numbing heat. Now that the orchestra was back the transition could be made, inserting itself without a hitch in the flutter of activity that reminded everyone of the beginning of a school year.

Everyone expected great things from the new head of the management board. The Terrible Three, as they were called, were infamous and had revolutionized the musical world in their time. Over the first few weeks after their return from summer camp Sasuke couldn't help but notice how the players of the orchestra would linger in the corridors during breaks, hoping to catch a glimpse of one of the new members. They were, of course, ready to hightail it out of the way if the one who happened to come was in fact Tsunade, whose potent voice and dangerous fist they already knew.

Obviously Sasuke didn't behave that way. He had better things to do than lose his time waiting for a drop of gossip to fall on his nose. Summer camp never meant as much intense work as it should - or as he hoped it would - and they had consequently much to make up for. That, and he felt it was better if the confrontation with a certain former teacher of his-

"Sasuke, my dear, _dear_ little boy!"

-never happened.

He stopped in his tracks right in the middle of the main hall and turned his head to see a slim, long-limbed figure limp hastily down the stairs, hand heavily resting on the banister as a support. The man's long, black raincoat and his long, dark hair made him appear even thinner than he really was. As soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs he began walking in earnest, forgetting to use the cane he was holding and completely ignoring the bespectacled assistant who was following him, begging him to be careful and to slow dow.

"My boy, my boy," he repeated until he stopped less than a foot away from Sasuke. His hand flew up and went to cup the violinist's cheek while pale brown eyes inspected him critically. There was a tense silence, during which the assistant finally caught up with his superior, out of breath and with a hand pressed against his heart.

Then Orochimaru sighed in relief and satisfaction.

"I see that you didn't let the sun mar your flawless skin," he said, patting Sasuke's cheek. "Good boy. Jiraiya was a fool to make you go to the mountains. That man should be confined."

Orochimaru had always had some sort of weird fascination with Sasuke's pale skin, probably because his own had always had that slightly waxy hue he bemoaned ceaselessly.

Some would say Orochimaru's fascination with Sasuke and with several of his other pupils went far beyond and was far sicker than a simple aesthetic evaluation of their complexion. Those people felt unnerved by how sensual his approach to music was. He'd always built a very close relationship to the pupils who piqued his interest - and he would be ruthless with the others, ignoring them and driving them into the background until they left and stopped _'uglifying the picture'_, as he'd put it.

And boy, had Sasuke been one of his favorites.

But in spite of what many people suspected he had never done anything out of place. Sure, he'd always perversely enjoyed finding ways to make Sasuke and his peers feel ill-at-ease, but it had been as some sort of game they could win if they managed not to show their discomfort and to keep playing perfectly. Which didn't happen often.

Orochimaru had been the one to guide Sasuke through adolescence once Kakashi had stopped teaching him, to help him adapt to the changes in his body that provoked changes in his playing without him wanting them to. He'd been the first to make him really listen to music: he would make them all lie down on the floor and close their eyes and let the notes flow over them, between them, through them, and wouldn't ask them to find the words to express what they'd felt afterwards because he knew it was impossible. He'd been strange, and moody, and creepy sometimes, but most of all he'd loved music and he'd managed to pass that love on to them.

It was thanks to him that Sasuke had really understood why he was doing what he was doing, it was thanks to him that he'd discovered some of his favorite pieces.

Too bad the man was still a freak.

He was now watching Sasuke with that exceedingly curved smile of his, his eyes turning golden in the artificial light of the hall.

"We meet again at last," he murmured. "I went to the last homecoming concert, you know, but those damned pains wouldn't allow me to see you," he sniffed.

Sasuke felt his eyebrows try to draw themselves together into a frown. Among the Terrible Three Orochimaru was probably the one who had aged the fastest - and most of all in the worst way. While Jiraiya had been the first to get grey hair, Orochimaru had begun feeling the drawbacks of his genetics with precocious arthritis and osteoporosis.

He liked to joke he'd let so much music seep into his bones that it had turned them brittle.

Now he couldn't walk without a cane and had his assistant Kabuto follow him around everywhere in case of emergency - but most of all to carry everything he now was allegedly too fragile to lift by himself. Namely, anything heavier than a sheet of paper. In short he had quite readily adapted to behaving like a prince followed by his lackey. Not that Kabuto complained.

He noticed Sasuke's reaction at once, though, and flicked his hand:

"Good God, my boy, no need to be so worried," he imperiously said. "It's nothing serious, I assure you. I shall bury you all," he declared, tapping the tip of his cane against the ground. There was a silence before he added on a more thoughtful tone: "Jiraiya first and foremost. I fear I won't ever find a common ground with that man."

He shook his head almost mournfully. Sasuke felt a smirk tug at the corner of his lips. The false animosity standing between the two men was more or less as legendary in the music world as Tsunade's ability to destroy a noisy cellphone by throwing her baton at it from the other side of the music hall.

"Oh my," Orochimaru hissed then, his attention distracted by something behind Sasuke. "My my my my my, what an _interesting_ specimen do we have here."

The violinist glanced over his shoulder and saw none other than Naruto, who had just stepped in through the gates and was shaking his umbrella - on which a printed frog was bouncing happily - to get rid of the water the heavy rain had deposited on it.

He briefly envisioned a meeting between the blond man and his former teacher. It didn't bode well.

"How very intriguing," Orochimaru was whispering, slowly tilting his head to the side and squinting. "I wonder-"

"His name is Naruto Uzumaki," Sasuke explained in a clipped voice, low enough to be sure the other musician wouldn't hear them from where he was standing. He was currently fighting with his umbrella which refused to fold itself properly. "A _violist_."

With a little bit of luck that small detail would be enough to-

"Really?" Orochimaru's eyes had now widened and he was beginning to smile. "Unexpected. It must-" Then his expression froze as he paused, then added: "Wait, Naruto? _Uzumaki_? _This_ is Jiraiya's protégé?"

Fearing the worst Sasuke nodded sharply. Orochimaru looked at him for a long time, lips pinched together, then he snapped:

"I'll go have a conversation with that man. _Now_."

Then he spun on his heels and walked away in a flurry of black fabric, black hair and dark aura. Kabuto rushed after him, begging him to slow down.

There was a silence. Then:

"What _was_ that?"

Naruto's voice was coming from right behind him, slightly to his right. Sasuke berated himself for not having heard the blond musician approach. He didn't start though.

"Orochimaru," was his answer. He never let the retreating figure out of his sight as he added: "Nothing unusual, I assure you."

This was followed by another silence. Then he suddenly, surprisingly felt a hand settle softly on his shoulder. Naruto spoke again, slow and hesitant: "Sasuke..."

Orochimaru had just disappeared down a corridor, but you could still hear echoes of his voice cursing Jiraiya into the next century. Sasuke glanced at Naruto, surprised at his tone of voice. The blond violist was wearing a strange expression, almost pitying but also understanding. His eyes were beginning to burn with his well known determination.

"I understand now," he said fervently, his hand slipping against Sasuke's shoulder so that his whole arm could settle on it. He smelled of rain and wet dust, as if he'd come all the way to the opera house on foot.

Sasuke did not shudder.

"Your shitty, bipolar personality is nothing but a distress call no one ever heard," Naruto went on in a low, rough voice. "Until now." A pause, then he abruptly tightened the grip he had on his colleague. "But fear not, Sasuke!" he exclaimed. "You're not alone anymore."

The violinist squeaked indignantly and sent a hard glare to the other musician who didn't notice he was almost choking him to death. Way to save him from Orochimaru's clutches.

"Next time I'll make sure Sakura is nearby to protect you," Naruto went on, paying no heed to the fact Sasuke had struggled out of his grip. He was grinning, eyes sparkling and cheeks slightly flushed.

"Sakura...?" Sasuke asked with a frown, massaging his throat. He didn't need a preview of the effect his colds would have on it that winter, thank you very much.

"She has a mean fist to her," Naruto explained with the faith of someone who knew from personal experience.

Sasuke didn't ask where, when or why he'd gotten it.

* * *

><p>"No," Sakura was firmly saying, arms crossed over her chest, when Sasuke came back to their room at the end of their mid-morning break.<p>

"But Sakuraaa," Naruto whined, leaning forward on his hands and pouting ridiculously. Sakura pointedly ignored him, in a way that made him understand at once that the battle was lost. He glanced around him, looking for allies, and his eyes landed on Sasuke.

His whole face brightened.

"Sasuke!" he exclaimed, getting up. "I got that idea-"

"Don't listen to him, Sasuke-" Sakura began almost at once, leaving her seat too.

"I personally think it might be an interesting exercise to test-" Sai began, only to be interrupted by a pointy shoe colliding with his shin.

"Sai, you remember when I told you there were times when it was better to shut up?" Sakura said in a low, threatening voice. The cellist nodded doggedly. "Now is one of those times."

By reprimanding him she'd lost time though, and Naruto had reached Sasuke first.

"It's a great idea for practice," he said in his most persuasive voice.

"What idea?" Sasuke asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

He caught a glimpse of Sakura rolling her own and let herself fall back onto her chair.

"Well, we got to know and trust each other over the year, right?" Naruto asked, but didn't wait for an answer. "Right. So I thought we should get to know each other's instruments too, you know, like play one of our pieces but with each of us doing the part of someone else."

Sasuke stared at him for a long time, wondering if he'd heard well. The blond violist was looking hopefully at him.

"We're not in holidays anymore, moron," he snapped before those puppy-dog eyes could make him lose his sense and agree.

"But we didn't have the time to do that during summer camp!" Naruto complained.

"You didn't made that up all on your own," Sasuke retorted, trying to get the conversation onto another path. "Who gave you the idea?"

The violist's pout became more pronounced but Sasuke's hard glare made him lower his eyes in the end and mumble: "Kakashi."

Sasuke wasn't surprised.

"But I still think it's a good idea," Naruto went on, already warming up to his subject. "It's a good thing to experience directly what the others are actually doing. Like, since Sai and I are the only one who don't have a violin we would-"

"Which is exactly why I refuse," Sakura interrupted. "We already know it won't be any challenge for you since you do know how to play the violin. You only want to show off and brag-"

"Fine!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "Fine! But you're ruining my plans, I'll have you know."

He went back to his chair and made a show of taking a notebook out of his viola case and crossing a whole page out. He turned onto a new one, mumbling sullenly to himself.

"I'll take the cello then. Happy?" he asked with a half-hearted glare. He glanced down at the small sheet he was sketching on. "And you can have the first violin part."

Sakura finally smiled and nodded, preening slightly.

Sasuke wondered when he'd given off the impression that he was agreeing to this and thus allowing it to happen.

"Now who's bragging?" Naruto muttered between his teeth before turning to Sai as if he hadn't said anything. He asked: "Sai, second violin alright with you?"

The cellist - about to be turned violinist - nodded without protest. Naruto brought his gaze back down then glanced up at Sasuke, his lips beginning to curve upwards almost at once.

"Which leaves-"

Sasuke already had a bad, ominous feeling and knew it wasn't unwarranted.

"-the viola for our dear leader," Naruto said, gesturing towards his instrument like a winsome advertiser towards his newest, most expensive product.

A pause. Then:

"No," Sasuke said firmly, arms crossed over his chest. Sakura had been on to something with that attitude a couple of minutes earlier.

Naruto's only reaction was to raise his eyebrows, not deterred in the least.

"Why? You scared?"

Sasuke only snorted. Now _that_ idea was ridiculous for sure.

"Of course not."

Naruto grinned at him then, slow and sure, a demon who already knew that he was going to win.

"Then _prove it_. Scaredy-cat."

Damn it.

* * *

><p>They had to take Sai out for a drink to help him recover for the emotional distress of seeing his cello almost crash to the ground when Naruto had toppled over from laughing too much.<p>

* * *

><p>Autumn had come. Days turned shorter. Leaves died and fell to the ground. The sky put on his coat of grey clouds it wouldn't let go of until the atmosphere turned warmer again.<p>

Still, worse things could happen. _Far_ worse.

And they did.

Even though it was only after a month and a half of verbal war that made the walls of the opera house tremble, Orochimaru and Jiraiya _did_ find a common ground.

Contemporary ballet.

Or, more specifically, _naked_ contemporary ballet.

"Bodies," Orochimaru hissed with his eyes half-closed. "Is there anything more beautiful, more artistic than an admirably sculptured figure standing, moving, straining on a stage? Arms stretching, thighs quivering, breasts heaving and backs curving..."

"He's got a point," Jiraiya approved with a decisive nod, having perked up at the mention of breasts. "And the music the directors propose to use is so very interesting, a whole philosophical reflexion about dissonance in and on itself."

"I've been outvoted," Tsunade said flatly and her gaze, at least, showed a little bit of sympathy, if not pity.

When Sasuke wobbled back to his quartet's room after the short information meeting Naruto welcomed him by holding out an open bottle of whiskey to him. It was already half empty.

"We listened through the door," he said as an explanation.

Sasuke took the bottle and a hefty gulp. Sai offered him a paper napkin to wipe his chin even though he didn't need it.

Yet.

"Don't worry," Sakura mumbled, opening her own bottle. "Tsunade won't refuse to make us the Hangover Cure if I'm too far gone to remember the recipe."

* * *

><p>Sasuke and Naruto were debating over the order in which they would play the pieces in the last two series of quartet concerts of the year, Sakura was bringing her input from time to time while cleaning her violin and Sai was fiddling away with one of Bach's cello sonatas when a voice let itself be heard:<p>

"Knock knock."

They all turned to see a red-haired woman sticking her head through the door, a large, strangely familiar smile on her lips.

"Are we interrupting something?"

"Mom!" Naruto exclaimed happily, jumping up from his seat. In the blink of an eye he was in front of her, throwing his arms around her. She hugged him back fiercely. "Back at last?"

"Back at last," she nodded just as Kakashi stepped into the room, hands in his pockets but eyes riveted to the man following him and who was-

Sasuke couldn't help but scramble to his feet. He barely noticed that Sakura was doing the same while Sai was clutching at his cello as if it prevented him from falling to the floor, although he was sitting.

Minato Namikaze blinked at them, his polite smile stuck to his lips in spite of his hesitation. His expression was slightly puzzled, as if he hadn't expected and didn't understand their reaction, as if such a thing didn't happen every time he stepped unannounced into a room full of musicians.

"Dad!" Naruto gushed, embracing the man briefly. The former violinist appeared startled but then his whole face softened and his smile warmed as he patted his son on the shoulder.

Naruto pulled back, his grin threatening to split his face in two.

"You both look great," he declared, flailing his hands in every direction with even more nervous energy than usual. There was a pause, which Sakura broke by indiscreetly clearing her throat. Naruto started as if he'd been stung.

"Oh yeah, those are my colleagues," he said, half-turning and gesturing towards the rest of the group. "Fellow musicians, quartets members-" He interrupted himself with a cough before he could fall even lower in his own stupidity and beckoned Sakura to come closer. "This is Sakura Haruno, our second violinist..."

It was only when he began a series of precise gestures and symbols with his hands that Sasuke realized he was spelling her name to his father and that his insane flailing was in fact an exuberant version of sign language.

"Sai Root, the cellist," Naruto went on. Sai nodded faintly, his pale face wiped out from any expression like it did when his emotions overwhelmed him.

"And Sasuke Uchiha, the bast- the first violinist," Naruto concluded. He replied to the brief glare Sasuke threw him as he stepped forward with a grin that seriously failed at being guileless.

Somewhere deep inside of the violinist a seven-years-old was gaping in awe and barely refraining from jumping up and down, a lone thought running through his tiny, fanatic head. _Minato Namikaze is standing in front of me. I'm meeting Minato Namikaze. He's reaching his hand out for me to shake it - oh my _God_ I'm going to shake hands with Minato Namikaze! I shall die happy-_

It was a good thing that he wasn't seven years old anymore, that he had stopped being that much impressed by model figures - and most of all that he had learned since then not to let his most intimate thoughts and emotions show on his face if he didn't want them to. His hand didn't tremble when he took Mr. Namikaze's in it - but he didn't dare make it a firm handshake, irrationally afraid that he was going to break it anew or hurt the man or-

He felt a soft pressure that was barely there, then their hands parted.

"It's- It's an honor," he stammered. Stammered. _You are sounding like an idiot!_ his seven-years-old self wailed in desperation, _you-_ "Sir."

Beside him Naruto was gesticulating to translate, but Sasuke didn't trust that look on his face.

"What did you say?" he asked nonchalantly once the blond violist was finished - he'd surely taken a _lot_ of time to render the four words Sasuke had uttered...

"Oh, nothing," Naruto readily replied, translating simultaneously with his hands. "Only that you were trying to suck up. Can't hold it against you."

The woman with the long - extremely long - red hair laughed and grabbed Naruto by the neck, roughly ruffling his hair in spite of his protestations.

"Don't worry," Sasuke heard a voice say, the carefully low voice of someone who wasn't quite sure how loud they could talk. He turned his head towards Mr. Namikaze who was looking at him - him, looking at _him_! - with an amused expression in his eyes. "I can lipread quite well." Then his face sobered, his pale gaze filling with soft, quiet regret. "I've been told that you are an incredible player," he murmured. "I would've loved to hear you play."

Sasuke felt dizzy for a second, wondering who had said such a thing about him - had _Naruto_...? - but also feeling his throat close up slightly. That man...

It was all so unfair. It was so obvious he loved music, had lived and breathed in it in the past, and now... Now he couldn't even hear any kind of sound clearly, even less the subtle variations of a violin or the soft rhythm of a piano. Sasuke remembered the articles he'd read with the feeling that his insides were being ripped out of him, he remembered the words smudged over cheap paper, the doctors' diagnosis according to which the hearing impairment was due to brain damage and could therefore never be remedied.

Sai's voice brought him back to reality and the room around him. The cellist was holding up a strand of red hair and asking the woman it belonged to if it was real, which earned him a slap on the head from Sakura who grumbled it wasn't the kind of things you asked a woman. Kakashi was still looking at Mr. Namikaze with the adoring look of a lost puppy who had received a pat and a bone. And Naruto...

Naruto was looking at Sasuke and his father, the strangest smile quirking his lips. It widened when he noticed he had Sasuke's attention, then he turned away to say something to his mother that Sasuke didn't hear since he was too busy trying to understand what had caused that abrupt, almost painful beat of his heart, so strong he'd felt it all the way to his fingertips.

Mr. Namikaze's visit didn't last long. Yet it lasted long enough for Sasuke to notice how humble, almost shy the former musician was and to be surprised by the way the woman - Kushina Uzumaki, he learned - treated him, with a bold familiarity and rough affection he always welcomed with a fond, almost adoring smile.

They were Naruto's parents. They weren't anything he'd expected. And yet now he couldn't imagine them any other way.

The room was strangely silent for a second after they'd left, Kakashi still in tow, until Sakura broke it by slapping Naruto on the arm.

"Naruto, you ass! You didn't tell me he was even more of a looker than he already is in the pictures!" She frowned. "And your mom is awesome. Why did you hide the fact that your mom is awesome?" She gazed imperiously at the repentant violist for a long time, arms crossed, then added in a thoughtful tone: "You're jealous, aren't you? You obviously didn't take after them."

Naruto squawked indignantly, Sakura sniggered and Sai blinked. Sasuke could already see that the exchange was threatening to turn into bickering then worse. Which wouldn't be very productive.

He cleared his throat pointedly. They stopped at once and turned their heads in his direction. Good kids.

"Practice," he reminded them.

He certainly didn't add that he didn't quite share Sakura's opinion on Naruto and his father.

* * *

><p>"Well?"<p>

"Well what?"

"What do you say?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "I have nothing to say."

Sai blinked.

"Nothing?" Sakura asked, frowning slightly.

"Who are you and what did you do with Sasuke Uchiha?" Naruto questioned, eyes narrowed.

Sasuke let his second eyebrow join the first, knowing they'd interpret it correctly. And indeed:

"We're not crazy," Naruto hastily added.

"You _always_ have something to say," Sakura nodded fervently.

"A passage you find fault with."

"... A passage which usually takes up the whole piece," Sai brought his own input.

Sasuke stared at them. _You really are a bunch of moron, aren't you?_ he wanted to say. _Curious, I hadn't thought I would actually manage to turn you into gluttons for punishment_, he wanted to say. _You really want me to say it, don't you? Well, I won't_, he wanted to say.

"You did well," he actually said. "Keep it that way." A pause and then, because they were still looking at him all upset and lost: "Meeting tomorrow at half past seven for practice. Now is not the time to slack off."

And that, finally, seemed to satisfy them.

Morons.

* * *

><p>Sasuke heard the voices softly talking long before he reached their room but it was only when he stepped through the threshold that what that meant registered.<p>

Naruto, who had been leaning forward with his elbows resting on his parted knees, hands barely moving and expression focused, abruptly interrupted himself and straightened up when he noticed Sasuke's arrival. Sakura and Sai did the same, put their chairs back in place and began opening their instrument cases as if they hadn't looked like they were hanging onto the violist's every word barely a second before.

Sasuke felt himself frown in puzzlement and discreetly checked his watch. It wasn't twenty after seven yet. Their meeting time had been set for half past seven. His frown deepened.

There definitely was something amiss here.

See, over the year some habits had settled and became a part of how their quartet worked and defined itself. Among them there were the ones about punctuality.

Sasuke would always arrive exactly ten minutes in advance - with the exception of Itachi-induced delays, which no one could ever foresee.

Sakura tended to step through the door fifteen to two minutes in advance, which didn't make the fact that she was here before him such an abnormality.

Sai mostly arrived on time, on the dot, with a precision that was more or less creepy.

Naruto arrived two to twelve minutes late, with a few random exceptions.

Which made the fact that he and Sai were already there something suspicious. That, and the way they'd shut up as soon as he'd arrived...

Well. He didn't care. He certainly didn't want to know about anything they had to hide - especially from _him_. Probably some blunder they wished to conceal but which would reach his ears sooner or later anyway.

He made a point not to ask any question.

Besides there were much more important things to do that day. Their playing was especially poor and he didn't hesitate to say it plainly and simply - and snappishly.

His brow was aching by the time their session ended.

And if they looked at him strangely he didn't care either.

* * *

><p>The last note drew itself out but the viola didn't hold it as long as the others. Sasuke ignored it and let the silence progressively replace their music.<p>

They lowered their instruments and bows. Sasuke waited for a couple of seconds, for the echoes of music to entirely disperse themselves, before he spoke:

"Okay. That could've been worse. But Naruto-"

"I _know_," the violist interrupted at once. "I know."

His tone expressed his frustration as he massaged his furrowed brow, eyes riveted to his shoes and lips pinched in dissatisfaction. Sasuke went on anyway. If the blond violist 'knew' but still made mistakes then he needed to get it spelled out to him.

"You can't keep on getting distracted that way," he said firmly, but not as sharply as he would have several months earlier. He knew what the violist was capable of. What he'd just played was not it. "You lose the rhythm. What's so fascinating it requires your attention right now instead of playing?"

He couldn't help but let a hint of sarcasm seep into his voice at the end of the question and-

And the strangest thing happened. Naruto looked up at him, a faint blush dusting the bridge of his nose as he bit his lower lip as if in guilt. And in that second Sasuke got the distinct impression that-

"Oh, good, I'm not interrupting anything."

Kakashi stepped into the room, looking very satisfied with himself. He stopped and looked around in surprise though, as soon as he realized what that stillness meant.

"What, no tears?" he wondered aloud. "No blood? No tragedy?" He turned to Sasuke. "You've turned soft, haven't you?"

It almost sounded like an accusation.

"Is there a point?" Sasuke asked in a clipped voice, not liking to be put in front of what he was barely beginning to admit to himself.

"Mh, let me see," Kakashi said, resting his chin on his fist as if Sasuke had just asked him to name five piano concertos of the baroque period. Or as if the notion that there could be a reason for him to pop in was a strange one but was worth thinking about nonetheless. "Oh, yeah!" he suddenly exclaimed, snapping his fingers in victory.

His smile was the only warning Sasuke got before the fateful question was uttered:

"We're currently deciding on the forming of groups for next year and I needed to ask you if you wished to keep the same string quartet."

Dead silence.

Sasuke hoped Kakashi could feel through the mere force of his glower that he was virtually strangling him with the strings of Sai's cello and Sakura's violin combined.

The man had done that on purpose - to come and ask that question during practice, when the three others were present. Their gazes were now fixed on him and he found that glaring at Kakashi and wishing him a slow, painful death was a far better option than looking at them and seeing what expression they were sporting.

It hadn't happened that way the year before. The year before the decision had been taken during a private meeting behind closed doors so that the members of his quartet at that time would at least be spared the viciousness of his words. Sasuke had been so frustrated and disgusted with those so-called musicians that he'd given Kakashi the go-ahead to choose the new team, thinking that if they turned out just as shitty as the former ones, at least he wouldn't be responsible.

But he hadn't ended up with worse than Sakon (or was it Ukon?), Jirōbō and Kidōmaru. The way Kakashi had approached the question that year was a clear indication of the way things had changed.

Because instead of what he'd feared - of what he'd almost expected - he'd ended up with... _them_. Naruto, Sakura and Sai.

He was able to look at them now, and their expressions weren't fearful nor hopeful nor hesitant. Only trusting, patient - and on Naruto's face he could see a hint of amusement, the slightest twitch of his eyebrows teasingly asking: _'Well, bastard? What are you waiting for?'_

He thought of Sai and of the way his rare, repressed emotions were finally beginning to let themselves be heard when he played; of his need to rationalize everything even if it was in the most irrational way.

He thought of Sakura and of the way she rushed into things because she didn't trust herself enough to do them at her own pace; of how her temper would flare as soon as she saw or heard something that didn't please her, never backing down in adversity.

He thought of Naruto and of the way he let far too many things burst through his playing until it spread in every directions; of how he'd fallen hopelessly in love with music, so hard that he couldn't help but try and try and try until he did something he judged right.

He bit back a smirk.

"That I would let anyone else benefit from _my_ work and efforts of a whole year is out of the question," he said.

A pause. Then:

"I'm keeping them."

Fortunately they waited until Kakashi had smugly left the room to jump on him - Sai with a finger into his ribs, Sakura with a kiss on his cheek, Naruto with an arm around his shoulders - and ask for celebrations.

* * *

><p>"Naruto," Sasuke called as the other musician slung the strap of his viola case over his shoulder.<p>

Sasuke waited for a group of woodwind instrument players to leave the concert hall, stressing his impatience with a pointed look that made them scatter away, and stepped up to the violist. He felt himself nearly freeze when their eyes met and he almost changed his mind. He took a calming breath and asked in a low voice:

"Is something the matter? You seem-" _clumsier than usual - entirely spastic - downright preoccupied_ "-out of sorts lately."

He'd gone for discreet. He mostly sounded awkward. And stupid.

But the violist hadn't fared so well during general practice either. He hadn't even retorted to Kiba's lame jokes about violas with his usual gusto and sharp wit. And Sasuke was... concerned.

For the good of the orchestra, of their quartet and of the concerts they were rehearsing, of course.

Now Sasuke was glowering at his feet, not knowing why he was feeling embarrassed. It wasn't like he was used to- to _ask_ that sort of things. His frown deepened when he heard a chuckle but there was no mockery on Naruto's face when he looked up. Only a soft, warm expression in his eyes and the most helpless, hopeless smile on his lips.

"No, it's- I'm alright." He took a step backwards, looking down as if to make sure he wouldn't trip. "I'm perfectly alright," he added with another glance, grinning but not quite. "Everything is clear now."

And he left with a cheerful greeting, leaving Sasuke alone in the concert hall with his violin case and the strangest, strongest of feelings knotting his throat so tight he could feel his heartbeat reverberate through it and his ribcage.

That _idiot_.

Nothing was clear.

Nothing.

Or everything.

* * *

><p><em>TBC<em>

* * *

><p><em>I love feedback :)<em>


	5. And Winter again

**Title:** The Four Seasons - Part 5: Winter

**Rating:** PG-13

**Genre:** Humor, romance, fluff, music

**Pairing:** SasuNaru

**Characters:** Lots of Team 7 (Sai included) and more or less everyone else.

**Wordcount:** 3 800 of 29 300

**Summary:** _What does a string quartet consist of? A good violinist (first violin), a bad violinist (second violin), an ex-violinist (viola) and someone who hates violinists altogether (cello)_.

* * *

><p><strong>Unbeta-ed<strong> D: I apologize in advance for all the errors and typos ;-;

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

**Warnings:** Fluuuuuffff. So much fluff it becomes disgustingly sappy, to be honest. But, well *shrugs* Consider it my contribution to the holidays. Christmas and New Years in one chappie, that was to be expected, really. Also, last part. Hope you like it and thanks for reading!

* * *

><p><em><span>The Four Seasons<span>_

* * *

><p><em>[Viola, n.: A stringed instrument of the violin family, slightly larger than a violin, tuned a fifth lower, and having a deeper, more sonorous tone.<em>

_In the past, since the viola's role is mostly as accompaniment, that is to say 'secondary', violists (= viola players, not to be confused with violinists) used to be chosen among the worst violin players. It's not really the case anymore today but violist are still the target of countless jokes among musicians, having the reputation of being bad, often dumb players.]_

* * *

><p><em>- Winter -<em>

* * *

><p>Sasuke glanced down at his watch without uncrossing his arms when the sound of hurried, heavy footsteps echoed down the corridor. It was three minutes and a dozen of seconds after the appointed time.<p>

Trust the idiot to be late even on the last day before their short Christmas break - or long Christmas weekend, it depended on how you looked at it.

Beside him Sakura raised both her fists in victory. Sai, who had bet on Naruto being eleven to fifteen minutes late, was already holding out a couple of banknotes to her. Sasuke, whose pride at having lost with his estimation of five to nine minutes (as opposed to Sakura's one to four), decided he could pay his due later and prepared a scathing remark for the violist.

The way Naruto burst in through the door thawed his plan though.

"They came in!" the man exclaimed, almost tripping over his own feet in excitement. He was wearing an electric-blue woolen hat on which snowflakes that hadn't quite melted yet were glinting. Along with his viola case he was holding a medium-sized cardboard box that threatened to slip from his grip. Carried along by his own momentum, he reached the table where he finally put it down.

Sakura and Sai had jumped up from their seat and crowded around him, looking at the package with a fascination Sasuke thought it didn't deserve.

"I told you we could count on these guys!" Naruto said, slipping off his yellow gloves and digging through his pockets in search of God knew what.

Sakura snorted and crossed her arms as if he'd just insulted her. "You have to admit that that Zabuza guy looks like he's not to be trusted," she said.

"I _told_ you not to worry," Naruto retorted, waving a finger. Then he apparently found what he was looking for and suddenly produced a pair of scissors with a victorious_ 'ha ha!'_. "Haku has him in a firm hand," he added, attacking the tape holding the box closed.

"Curious," Sai said, his voice almost drowned under the shredding sounds Naruto managed to make. "I would've thought it was the contrary."

Sakura bent forward when the content of the box was revealed, hiding what it was with her pink hair she hadn't fastened yet.

Sasuke noticed he'd stood up without knowing when or why.

"So, let's see," Naruto began, now extracting something from the box. It was rectangular, like a large book, and wrapped in a beautiful dark red paper that shone gold when the light hit it at the right angle. "This one is for Sai."

The cellist received the package with mute reverence.

"This one for meee," Naruto singsonged, putting down the following one which was identical to the first. "This one for Sakura."

The violinist hopped and took her present, pressing it to her chest like a young, dorky student would an old, dusty book she'd just taken from the shelves in the library.

"I was _so_ afraid they wouldn't come in in time for Christmas," she sighed.

Naruto laughed softly. "We all were," he murmured, before he turned to Sasuke with a large smile. "And the last one," he declared, holding out another package for the lead violinist to take, "is for you."

Sasuke accepted it automatically, noting at once the weight of the object and wondering what it was. Naruto was still talking.

"Remember, guys," he announced as he raised an index finger in front of his lips like he was telling a secret, his expression turning malicious. "You don't open it before Christmas morning."

* * *

><p>Christmas day dawned and Sasuke could've said it didn't begin well. He was no morning person and had looked forward to sleeping in since that day was a holiday - but as habit would have it he had gotten used to getting up absurdly early to be on time to his quartet's practice and had therefore his internal clock set for six a.m. on weekdays.<p>

Life was cruel.

He sighed miserably and turned in his bed, hoping he would get back to sleep. It worked enough for him to manage to slumber until half past seven. Then sleep left him once for all (the traitor), stranded and getting... bored.

_Bored_. In his own bed. That was what his life had come to.

He turned once more, racking his brain for ways to lure Morpheus back in. Some music, perhaps? But no, he was in his old room at his parents' house. All his favorite discs were back at his apartment and he was only left with the angry, angst-ridden music he'd listened to as a teenager, pretending it wasn't making his ears bleed. The only things he'd brought...

He turned once more in his bed to look at the overnight bag resting in front of his closet. He'd brought a change of clothes, a toiletry bag, the presents for his family which he'd placed under the tree the night before - and the package his quartet had given him.

Well, Sasuke thought. Now was as good a moment to open it as any. He would see what it was and then Fusao would be up, thundering down the stairs and icily demanding everyone went down in the living-room so that they (he) could open their (his) presents.

He slipped out of bed and hurried over to his bag, barely taking the time to snatch the item before he was back between his sheets and sighing at their warmth. The air in his room felt unbearably cold in comparison.

He settled comfortably, sitting up with his back resting against his squishy pillow and his duvet covering him up to his torso, then took the time to turn the object over a couple of times, wondering what it was.

A book, no doubt about it. Sasuke would know that weight and stiffness everywhere. But what kind of book?

...

Not porn meant as some sort of joke, he hoped.

Seeing he couldn't guess - the only thing he was sure of was that this was what they'd been plotting about when they'd come in so early several weeks before - he shrugged and teared through the wrapping with a thrill of excitement and curiosity he hadn't felt since he was a child and naive enough not to guess what his parents and brother had gotten him that year.

(He still couldn't guess what Itachi was going to offer him but he'd long since learned not to be excited about it.)

It was effectively a book. Or rather some mix between a book and a scrapbook that had been printed so that the odds and ends it contained didn't fall off as soon as you opened it.

At first it looked like someone had taken every single scrap of paper, sketch, note and scribble they could find and slammed them between the pages with no real order or reason. But once the first impression of utter mess had abated Sasuke began to make out what it was made out of.

He recognized Sai's drawings littering the pages, more or less precise, more or less finished. There were sketches he suspected had been done on the spur of the moment (he'd _known_ Sai had been drawing him and Sakura that time in the train. Now he had proof!) and discreet works of art that must have taken hours, as well as caricatures that had Sasuke's eye twitching (there was an awful lot of him dressed as a small devil or tyrant) and smirk (Naruto's and Sakura's were _priceless_).

He recognized pictures he hadn't known had been taken, of him or of the rest of their quartet, talking to other people, training, dozing off, eating, sometimes even bickering, small shots taken during general practice but most of all during summer camp. He vaguely remembered Naruto carrying around a camera, allegedly to immortalize the landscape. He knew he shouldn't have trusted that guileless smile.

He recognized Sakura's writing looping itself over the pages and around the pictures in sharp and witty sentences commenting on the content or remembering a moment they had shared, an awful practice, a concert that had gone unexpectedly well, an evening out, a detail they'd discovered about one of them and wouldn't ever let him or her live down.

And he recognized, printed in block letters, his own words in form of his sharpest, most vicious criticisms rendered harmless and almost funny by the places they were inserted in. But there were also things he'd said about music, about playing, things he hadn't thought they'd really listened to. And there was music itself, short sentences he identified by reading them as several of the improvisations he'd had them do during practice. He'd liked some of these sequences, and had regretted afterwards being unable to find them again in the calm evening of his apartment.

Now they were here between his hands - their whole year together was here between his hands - and all he wanted was for his quartet to be here so that he could remind its members once more of their utter _idiocy_.

At the end of the book there was a photocopied piece of ripped paper with a short note written in haste in Naruto's poor excuse of a handwriting:

_To Do List_

_BIRTHDAYS (as in PARTIES and GIFTS, and see if you dare try and stop us, bastard)_

_Rule the (music) world (I know, we already do)_

_Eat more ramen_

Sasuke snorted. There was a blank space left for other ideas. When he caught himself vaguely wondering what he himself would write he shook his head and went back to the first page.

It must have taken them hours, days or even weeks to put this all together. The least he could do was take the time to properly read it.

* * *

><p>"I must tell you that Fusao kind of hates you right now," Itachi said when Sasuke opened his bedroom door.<p>

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. He hadn't heard anything and hadn't thought anyone was up - even less Fusao, who usually made his existence more than known on Christmas morning by acting like a small, fussy emperor.

But then, Fusao, like his father, liked to behave unexpectedly by breaking patterns. His mere existence was one big enigma to Sasuke and his parents, ever since the day Itachi had brought him home when he wasn't even one year old.

At first they'd thought it was a baby Itachi had taken in on a whim and found a way to adopt somehow. But he'd had dark hair and eyes and even before he was two he'd shown so many Uchiha characteristics that they'd had to accept the truth.

He really was Itachi's son.

Sasuke knew that not knowing anything about where the boy came from would always bother both his parents. His mother would torture herself imagining the worst stories, creating her own sentimental series complete with passion crime, forbidden love, prostitution, illegal activities, tragic accidents and so on. As for their father, well. Birth and forebears had always been of great importance to him. The fact that he knew nothing of half of the boy's inheritance could only make him frown in thought because it prevented him from placing him clearly in the wide tapestry that was the Uchiha family.

But Itachi had always remained mute on the subject of Fusao's mother.

Sasuke... didn't care. The mere idea of Itachi with a woman that way was so disturbing that he was far better off not knowing who (what) it was.

He knew that, had he been younger and as naive as he'd been one day (bad, bad memories), Itachi probably would've tried to pass it off as an example of Immaculate Conception. As it was, Fusao was so much like his father that Sasuke sometimes found himself wondering if they weren't being lied to and the research on human parthenogenesis or cloning wasn't far more advanced than everyone suspected.

Fortunately Itachi's love for his little brother had been passed down onto the following generation and Sasuke wasn't so worried about his health. Fusao would pout at him or try to glare icily (he still had much to learn) but he wouldn't hurt him for delaying the opening of the presents.

"May I ask what was so fascinating you preferred to stay holed up in your room instead of gracing us with your presence and having a taste of our mother's cake?" Itachi asked, indiscreetly trying to glance over Sasuke's shoulder to see if he could catch a glimpse of anything compromising - but he wouldn't find anything because the scrapbook was safely hidden under Sasuke's pillow.

All he got in answer was a smirk.

* * *

><p>Sasuke drew out his A while the other parts of the orchestra played the note one after the other. He didn't hear anything out of tune and nodded sharply.<p>

They were set.

On his right the rows of the audience were buzzing with activity. People whispered to each other, gathered their clothes in a rustle of precious fabric, leafed through the concert program, stood up to let someone through to his or her seat, called out to each other when they noticed a familiar face. Sasuke made sure not to even glance in that direction. He knew that his family would be there amid the first rows and he didn't need the pressure.

Instead he looked for the members of his quartet. Sai was adjusting the score on his music stand with a focused, fastidious expression on his face. Naruto was chatting with his neighbor, Gaara Sabaku, but he threw a lopsided smile at Sasuke when he noticed that the violinist was watching. Sakura was slowly breathing out, eyes closed, trying to let out some tension.

The audience began to applaud when Tsunade Senju, their conductor, stepped into the room. She walked with her back straight and a determined expression on her face until she'd reached and climbed onto her rostrum. There she threw her pale blond bangs back with a sharp movement of her head.

She had chosen not to take her baton with her tonight.

A hush fell over the room.

* * *

><p>The first piece begins with only the strings playing. The violins are the center of attention, of course, but they are first introduced by the violas who precede them by mere seconds.<p>

Sasuke's takes a breath and holds his bow ready. He shares a look with the head violist, an old man for whom that concert is the last, but then he can't help but let his eyes slide over to Naruto as if it's their natural course. It'll be him standing in the seat of first violist next year, he knows.

The blond musician throws him a sharp, knowing smile just as his bow brushes upon the strings of his viola and the first notes rise. A glance at Sai, at Sakura who smiles at him, at the group of violinists beyond, and Sasuke lets their music join in.

The New Year Concert begins.

* * *

><p><em>"-now like to officially welcome our new head management board for the upcoming year - Mr. Orochimaru Sannin, Mrs. Tsunade Senju and Mr. Jiraiya Sennin."<em>

The whole orchestra and staff applauded politely as the Terrible Three joined Shizune on the stage. Sasuke was sure Jiraiya tried to trip Orochimaru on the way but ended up being the one to stumble thanks to his colleague's cane.

He glanced to his right when he heard and felt someone step up to him. Naruto finished stretching then let out a long sigh.

"Booooring," he complained. "It's always the same, no matter where you are or when."

Sasuke, who had but few memories of other orchestras, agreed in silence anyway. But he couldn't quite complain. The small private reception had to be short so that the musicians could go back to their families and the bigger party that was taking place in one of the opera house's largest halls. Therefore he'd been spared the obligation of making a speech as lead violinist, since there were many people who were new and came before him for once.

"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto whispered in his ear. If he noticed the way the violinist almost shuddered before he abruptly turned his head to the side he didn't give any indication of it and went on in a suggestive tone: "I still have that bottle of rosé you prevented us from drinking all that time ago, you know."

He titled his head to the side while Sasuke raised an eyebrow, silently demanding clarifications.

"Wanna get out of here?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke looked at him and thought of the speeches they still had to hear without having to take part in it. He thought of the party, he thought of meeting his parents afterwards, his father and mother who insisted on repeating that they were _proud_ of him, so very proud.

They didn't understand that he was no eight-years-old in need of reassurance because he'd chosen a path that wasn't very conventional and might lead him to utter failure if he wasn't the best. They didn't understand that he was no impossible, angry teenager blaming them for never saying those things. He had been once, he knew, but he wasn't anymore.

They didn't see it. They didn't understand that all he wanted from them now was to say that they had had a good time, a very good time.

He wanted his father to try and comment on the music he'd started paying interest to because of his youngest son and had discovered he loved. He wanted his mother to gush like she was dying to, he knew, because there was no doubt she'd overheard a couple or a small group talking about him and it always made her want to snigger. He wanted his brother to smirk, find a way to criticize his playing even if he didn't know the first thing about music and make it all almost valid by means of a convoluted comparison with a dinner at a high-class restaurant.

He wanted that, and he wouldn't quite have it, and it might only be him behaving like a capricious child who was never satisfied. But he was tired and he didn't want to start feeling that slight but acrid taste at the back of his throat, not now. The concert had gone so well and now that Naruto was beside him...

He wouldn't mind if that feeling lasted for a little while longer.

He smirked and it was enough.

"I'll go fetch Sai," Naruto said with a dazzling smile. "Find Sakura. I think the tuba player is trying to chat her up or something."

* * *

><p>They escaped, barely taking the time to snatch their coats and scarves before they were out on the street.<p>

Sai chose the subway line (Seven), Sasuke the direction (North) and Sakura the amount of stations (by closing her eyes and jabbing her finger on the map at random). When they stepped out and found themselves right under the Kage Monument, the rock projection towering above the city of Konoha whose presence many geologists were still trying to explain, Naruto declared it was a sign and dragged them blindly up the steps carved into the rock until they reached the top.

From there they could see the snow covering the roofs and the Hokage Tower, Konoha's administrative center, with the big screen hanging off of it that was slowly counting the last minutes of the year.

Somewhere down there, his parents were waiting, probably wondering where he was. Or they weren't, if Kakashi had gone to them so that they didn't worry.

Sasuke couldn't bring himself to care.

A rumble rose from the whole city when the countdown for the last minute began. Sasuke felt Sakura grip his right hand tightly in hers. He glanced down at her: she was staring at the screen, also holding Sai's hand and not noticing that both dark-haired men were looking in her direction. Sasuke met Sai's eye and they shared a small, amused smile.

A warm, heavy arm settled on his shoulders from his left and Sasuke turned his head towards Naruto. The blond violist grinned at him, already mouthing the numbers following one another on the screen.

_'Forty... Thirty-nine... Thirty-eight...'_

At thirty he began to whisper and soon Sakura joined in. Their voices rose steadily along with the hubbub in the city until they were shouting the last figures:

"Three!... Two!... ONE!... _ZERO!_"

A cry echoed throughout the city and Sakura raised both her hands to the sky, taking Sasuke's and Sai's with her.

"_HAPPY NEW YEAR!_"

Sasuke felt a strange expression pass over his face, torn between a wince and an amused smile bordering on a chuckle at his teammates' antics even though their jumping made him clumsily stumble forward. When he straightened up and raised his head he met Naruto's happy gaze just as the first firework rocket exploded in the sky, bathing the scene in ephemeral red and gold.

And without quite knowing why, or knowing exactly why, Sasuke leaned forward, tilted his head to the side and kissed the violist right on the mouth.

It was almost awkward for a second, and more than a little sloppy, but then Naruto started kissing back. His lips were chapped and dry but warm. Sasuke closed his eyes. It was slow and hesitant, long and almost sweet but with a tang of playful passion that promised so much more. When they parted Sasuke breathed out slowly, savoring that feeling and the buzz in his lips before he opened his eyes, gripping the other man tightly and grateful for Sakura's hand still anchoring him. He felt like he could fall at a moment's notice, to the ground or to the sky he didn't know.

Behind him he could hear Sai asking something and Sakura laughing in delight but his eyes never left Naruto's.

He wanted to kiss him again.

So he did.

There were worse ways to start the year.

* * *

><p><em>END<em>

* * *

><p><em>And a happy new years for everyone :)<em>


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